Tumbling Etceteras
by TumblingEtceteras
Summary: After finally working through their guilt and overcoming their fears, Troy and Gabriella fall whole-heatedly into something they had never even had control over in the first place. Sequel to "Inevitable"
1. Chapter 1

**Tumbling Etceteras – Chapter One**

**Sequel to "Inevitable"**

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**Disclaimer: **

Nothing but the words on this page belongs to me; the characters are the property of Disney.

**Summary:**

A series of one-shots: After finally working through their guilt and overcoming their fears, Troy and Gabriella fall whole-heatedly into something they had never even had control over in the first place.

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Grinning as though it were about to go out of fashion, Troy and Gabriella stared wondrously at each other across the table of the quaint little restaurant that Troy had chosen and merely allowed their conversation to wash into the gentle hum of their surroundings. They didn't need to speak anymore; they didn't want to: both needed a moment to bask in the relief and joy-filled glow of knowing that their first date had been a success. There had been no awkwardness and, finally, no guilt. It had felt natural for Troy to reach across the table to take Gabriella's hand in his as they ate, and it had felt more than natural for her to toy with his comparably large fingers in return. Their first date - and Gabriella had to bite back a snigger at the term they were applying to it: she supposed that it should really be their first "official" date; their first "unmistakeable" date; their first "date that she couldn't rationalise as being a meeting between friends in a slightly datey environment" - had been as perfect as she could ever have hoped and not even the most clumsy of elephants could have burst the bubbles of mirth that were inflating her stomach and heart and God so many places that she just couldn't fathom. Yet even better was the fact that Gabriella just didn't care or want to begin to try and process it.

Apparently her smirk hadn't gone unnoticed by the boy smiling almost giddily back at her. "What does the smirk mean, Montez?" he questioned; leaning his chin on his fist and tilting in closer to her. The lessened distance between them allowed his breath to warm her delicate nose: it was heavenly.

Shyly, Gabriella glanced down quickly before almost immediately gathering the courage to look at him again; albeit with rosier cheeks. "I may have been musing about the fact that this really isn't our first date."

Her smirk was returned cheekily. "Oh have you now?" Troy teased. "I'm going to enjoy telling Chad that we actually had a 'date' when I see him later at the party." He scratched his neck slightly before continuing. "He usually makes me call our hang-outs TSNADs," he mumbled and earning a raised eyebrow in response.

"A Snad?" she repeated. "What's one of those when it's at home?" she asked confusedly.

"A Chad weirdism -Troyella Style 'Not a Date'." His explanation was muttered with extreme embarrassment and he was about to try and redeem himself when her giggles interrupted him.

"Oh gosh. Troyella? Is he a girl? You actually used to use that term?" Gabriella's cheeks had now taken on a pink hue for an entirely different reason.

"I don't know: I think he reads too many gossip rags, and, I mean, for him to go home and think about this obviously shows he has way too much time on his hands." He flipped their hands over so that the back of his own was resting against the table and her tiny palm was anchored in the middle of his; their fingers remaining interlaced the entire time. "And I tried not to use the stupid word but he would sometimes make me if he was feeling extra convinced that I was being a coward."

Gabriella bit her lip; feeling ever so slightly guilty. "A coward?"

"For not making a move," Troy explained in such a casually nonchalant manner that she was amazed at the ease with which he was willing to place the blame for the slow pace of their relationship on himself; even when they both knew that it was her own uncertainties that had rendered it temporarily stagnant.

"That was hardly the reason it's taken so long," Gabriella reminded softly. "I'm sorry for that, you know."

His eyebrows knitted together adorably, Troy rolled his eyes in an attempt to brush over her concerns. "It was right though: and better for us."

"The whole four months?" she questioned teasingly.

"Definitely the first three and a half," he countered just as playfully and stuck his tongue out for good measure. "It's like Christmas, you know? You're excited about if for months and even though you know that you're getting the new Xbox and seriously just want the 25th to arrive as soon as it hits December, you know that you'll enjoy it that much more if you wait..."

"You think?"

"I know," he replied with a wink.

"What do you think Chad will say then? You're going to torture him, aren't you?" Gabriella asked with a knowing smile.

"Me?" He looked aghast. "I'm just going to walk in there and tell it how it is." He averted his gaze from her sceptical look and pursed his lips cheekily. "He'll be far too drunk by time we get there to get a proper reaction, anyway," he smirked in admission. Standing up, he tugged her gently to her feet and began to lead her to the car.

"And?" she prompted further. "I don't trust that smirk."

Wrapping an arm around her lower waist and finding that the curve of her hip provided the perfect resting place for it, Troy widened his eyes tauntingly. "We can save the big guns until school on Monday."

Monday.

School.

Gabriella had completely forgotten about that.

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Troy killed the engine and glanced over at Gabriella with a slightly concerned expression. "Is my driving really that bad?" he asked; only partly in jest.

"Hmmm?" Her response was uttered in a dreamily distracted tone and it took a second for her actions to catch up with her speech. Her eyes were wide and glassy and her face pale as she turned to look at him.

"I mean," Troy tried tentatively. "I would let the quiet and whatever be blamed on the fact that it's early and we're on the way to school," he suggested. "But it's you we're talking about and you love early mornings and school. So I thought that maybe it was my driving, 'cos you're clutching the arm rest so hard that your knuckles are white. I mean, I did go a little bit faster than I probably should have and I'm sorry for that and maybe last time I drove slower because, God, I used to get so nervous around you before…"

As he rambled, Gabriella's nerves settled slightly and she finally managed to lift her heavy hand to place it comfortingly on his knee. "It wasn't your driving, Troy," she giggled.

"It wasn't?" he asked, flipping his sandy bangs out of his eyes.

"Did I do something really embarrassing at the party after our date? I was sure that I only had a few drinks but I would be lying if I hadn't felt buzzed at the end of the night…"

Biting her lip, she shook her hand. "When I was with you, you were perfectly normal: the regular amount of dorky but normal all the same."

He glanced at her curiously again. "So everything is fine?"

Gabriella took a deep breath. "Uhuh, everything is okay."

"What about more than okay? Can we try that?"

The cute smile that he was sending in her direction was simply heart-melting. "Yeah, I think that I could even say things were good."

A grin burst his smile outwards. "Excellent. Don't move," he instructed before jumping out of the door of his truck and racing around to open the passenger door for her. "May I help the lady disembark from her charge?" he asked in what was actually a rather impressive English accent.

A tinkling laughter spilled from her lips at his bowed form. "Why of course you may!" Gabriella acquiesced and accepted his hand before sliding to the floor beside him.

"And may I also be so prudent to say that you are looking quite simply resplendent this morning, m'lady?" Troy charmed successfully despite the out-of-place wink that accompanied his compliment.

Blushing, Gabriella buried her head into his shoulder slightly; too elevated by his charm to realise that they were, as expected being stared at by almost every person that they walked passed on the way towards the fountain at the front of school. "Have you been watching your Mom's Jane Eyre DVDs again?" she asked with a soft snigger and glossing over the compliment.

"No." His response was an automatic defence of his masculinity. A second later he turned to her with a shocked, almost ashamed expression. "How do you even know about that?" he whispered.

Gabriella rolled her eyes before leaning conspiratorially closer to him. "Your Mom told me," she revealed in just as hushed a tone of voice; if slightly more mocking.

He stopped dead in his tracks. "She said she'd never tell anyone! Not even my Dad knows!"

It was taking every ounce of willpower that Gabriella possessed not to laugh in his face at the quite genuine but truly unbelievable look of horror and betrayal on his face. "Ooops?" she suggested as the only possible reply.

"Oooops?" Troy asked in despair. "Do you think Lois Lane would say that to Clark if his Mom just suddenly told people that his weakness was Kryptonite?"

"Troy," she comforted with a hand to his bicep; one that clenched beneath her fingers and caused something in the pit of Gabriella's stomach to spark that was exhilaratingly unfamiliar. "Firstly, me knowing that you watch high-class television movies is not going to cause pain or death," she deadpanned. "Secondly, I won't tell anybody else." She peered up at him nervously through her eyelashes. "And thirdly, I don't think it's a weakness. I think it's definitely one of your many strengths."

He regarded her carefully; an adoring smile on his face at the fact that she had spoken so candidluy. "In that case, maybe I was watching it yesterday whilst I was doing my English homework."

As they stepped through the doors of East High, Troy dropped her hand briefly so that he could hold the heavy door open for her. As her body collided with the already musty warmth of the corridor, as her ear drums were submerged in the frantic buzz of the Monday-morning rush, Troy reached for Gabriella's hand again. Their fingers interlocked and she stiffened. Her gaze fell to the floor but she could sense the wall of eyes on her, encroaching on them; she could feel the transparent beams of curiosity and spite, surprise and irritation searing her body. It was what she had been fearing: the judgement and the attention and Gabriella just needed the ground to swallow her whole.

Troy felt her tiny hand go rigid in his own before she gripped onto him as though her life depended on it. The smile that had been on his face as he had greeted some of his fellow basketball players that were clustered just inside the building faded as his eyes fell to Gabriella; her head downcast and her feet striding deliberately one in front of the other. It was only then that he became aware that it was she deciding their pace, a much faster one than was the norm. "Hey, Gabi," he placated and rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand as she sped up even before turning the corner and reaching her locker.

As the row of inanimate white soothed her vision, her shoulders appeared to relax slightly and she eased her hand from his grasp before turning her back on him swiftly. Troy heard her exhale slowly and frowned when she raised a shaking hand to turn the dial and open it; a feat which required several attempts because of her trembling digits. Splaying his hand across the small of her back, Troy rested his chin on her shoulder. "You're shaking," he mumbled into her ear. "What happened?"

She was quiet for a moment but took the gentle nudging of his forehead against the side of her own as a sign that he really did want an answer. "You're going to think I'm so odd," she muttered in embarrassment whilst she busied her hands arranging and rearranging the books in her locker.

"Gabi…" His reverent voicing of her name was the only way he could possibly think of conveying to her how wrong she was.

"It was the people," she started quietly. "There were so many people and they were all looking at me and…" her sentence trailed off as she shivered. "I don't deal with the whispers and the stares very well."

A frown was fixed on his forehead as he spoke. "I didn't notice anything different…"

Gabriella couldn't help but smile. "That's because you're used to everybody paying attention to you: you're their basketball hero and all of the girls love you." She turned around and leaned back against the cooling metal as she heard him begin to muddle together a response. "I'm not saying it as a bad thing: it's part of who you are and stuff. But, I suppose, I'm just not used to it…it kind of freaks me out to have people look at me like that. I'm just the freaky Math girl and…"

"You aren't just the freaky math girl," Troy argued, brushing a curl behind her reddened ears. "You're funny and cute and beautiful and so many other things…"

"Not to them," she reminded. "I'm not supposed to be holding your hand when you come to school in the morning. And then they look at me with those like scoffing eyes and I go red and get all nervous and it just proves that…"

Troy's eyes were dripping with alarm at her admission. Cupping her face, he pressed his thumb against her lips. "Stop, okay. It doesn't prove anything," he paused. "Other than that you're too cute." He smiled softly. "That was a compliment and that's supposed to make you blush or giggle or something; otherwise I've lost my touch and I'll have to spend the entire weekend finding some other way to charm you so that you don't get rid of me after only a week." At that he did manage to tease a small smile out of her. "I'm sorry that I didn't realise that you felt uncomfortable…and that it's my fault," he added sheepishly. "I think it'll just take a little bit of getting used to that I have a new girlfriend – and that she's as amazing as you." Her rosebud lips parted at his remark and Troy's eyebrows flinched. "Well that's different to the typical blush but I'll take it."

Gabriella continued to look at him in what he couldn't only describe as shock. "Girlfriend?" she gasped out quietly.

"Well yeah," Troy confirmed confidently; his voice however belying his confusion at her apparent bewilderment. "That's what people usually call it."

"Oh."

"You are my girlfriend, right?"

Gabriella squeaked a haze of syllables that sounded like a yes. At his continuing observation she shrugged embarrassedly. "I just, I mean, I wanted and I thought but I didn't know and…"

"I kind just thought that was what you wanted when you kissed me on Friday night." He smiled warmly at her rambling and nervousness.

"I do…"

"Do you need me to ask officially?" he asked slightly cockily; his hand still planted firmly against her cheek.

"No," Gabriella countered defensively at his teasing before shyly returning her eyes to his. "Maybe…" she smiled bashfully.

"If I ask you super officially then you have to seal the deal with a kiss," he teased and earned a soft nudge in his chest in return.

"I'm not kissing you in the hallway. What if Ms. Darbus or another teacher comes along? It's against the rules and I've never had detention and it's not that…but…" She narrowed her eyes at the laughter swirling in his irises. "You!" she gasped. "You're manipulating my nervousness and…!"

"Chill, Gabi," Troy chuckled. "I have something very important to ask you, in very clear and easy to understand words, just to make sure, and your chatter is distracting me…" He stopped talking for a second and gazed earnestly at her. "I would really like it if you would officially be my girlfriend."

She grinned. "I'd really like that too."

Pulling her into a hug, Troy laughed at her almost inaudible squeak. "We won't get in trouble for hugging." He let her go; his breath catching somewhere in his throat when she continued to clutch his side. "And about the other thing: I can make Chad wear stupid clothes and send him ahead of us in the mornings – might that help?"

Nodding slowly, Gabriella's eyes brightened further. "You'll be with me?"

"Every step of the way."

She didn't have any reason to doubt him.


	2. Chapter 2

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**Tumbling Etceteras: Chapter 2**

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**A/N: I thought I'd add a little note here to clarify my intentions for this story. I suppose it's going to be a mix between a series of one-shots and an actual story. The whole premise of "Inevitable" was initially to show how Troy and Gabriella would have come together no matter what, even if their situations had been different than portrayed by the movie. Now that my Troy and Gabriella are actually in a relationship, my mind has been toying with showing how they develop and their fates, so to say, come back in line with those of the characters from the film. Time-line wise, this chapter here happens in the second week of May and I'm hoping to continue the story until where High School Musical 2 finishes.**

**Thank you for the comments for the last chapter, sorry that this took a wee while to be published, and I hope you enjoy!  
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Gabriella peered over the top of her book as the eerie opening strains of _Hallelujah _churned around her ears. It was Friday evening and she was curled up on her bed; taking an hour or two to do some revision for the end of term tests before she was due to meet up with Troy and a rather strange combination of their friends to go to the movies. She had to frown at the thought that not only she and her boyfriend, but some of his basketball teammates and her "nerdy" friends would be going to the same place; together. It brought her back to the fact that as much as she adored Rufus Wainwright, his melancholy just wasn't what Gabriella needed to send her into the weekend: the last five days had been far too magical for that.

The giggle that had perched itself unwaveringly upon her lips over the last few days tumbled over into audibleness and Gabriella dropped her book to the bed; stretching her hands out above her head as she fell back against her pillows. Her eyes closed and her mind was flooded with images from the past week: from Troy's laughter creased face as she had rushed excitedly to tell Taylor that they were official, only to receive the most unsurprised and deadpan reaction imaginable from her best friend, to the startling earnestness of his eyes as her boyfriend had leaned down to connect their lips on her doorstep early that afternoon. Gabriella exhaled at the memory before sitting up again: today really wasn't a day for broken Hallelujahs. As much as part of her wanted to inwardly roll her eyes at the cliché inherent in it, Gabriella just wanted to bask in the world of champagne supernovas and rainbow kisses and gosh everything that Troy Bolton did to her.

Moving over to her iPod speakers, Gabriella flicked through the songs until her fingers hovered over _Walking on Sunshine_. She couldn't stop herself from glancing furtively around her; even though she knew that there was nobody around to comment on her giddiness. Gabriella wrinkled her nose upon catching sight of her book out of the corner of her eye: she really had meant to read it for a third time before her end of semester tests. Shrugging, she decided that it was a task that could be postponed until the next day and skipped over to her wardrobe instead. Her body began to wiggle from side to side in time with the music as Gabriella weighed up what to wear that evening: she felt a need to dress up for Troy but knew that whatever she chose had to be casual enough for the mall. She fingered a red floral sundress, one that would fall to mid-thigh, and wondered whether she would be able to dress it down with a long cardigan.

The volume was turned up high and as the song moved into the chorus Gabriella's absent-minded humming exploded and she threw herself whole-heartedly into singing along. Taking the dress in question of its hanger, she surveyed herself in the mirror with a smile: it might just provide the right amount of casual special.

Suddenly a voice pierced the sunshine-filled bubble of song wrapped around the petite girl.

It was all that she could do not to shriek.

"Wow," the awe-filled murmur muttered again and Gabriella felt her face heating in embarrassment as she turned around to face him; the dress still clutched almost protectively over her front. "How did I not know that you could sing?" Troy asked a second later; his eyes wide in amazement as he observed his girlfriend.

Feeling slightly stupid when she realised that she was still gripping onto the dress for dear-life, Gabriella turned the music down as she moved over to her bed to lay the item down. "I don't sing," she mumbled sheepishly. Her own eyes were wide with this confession; not out of awe but a strange mixture of fear and embarrassment. She amended herself: "I wasn't singing, anyway. I was just –" The look of amused disbelief on Troy's face rendered her attempts to finish her justification somewhat void. "Humming?" she finished quietly with a shrug.

Troy chuckled as his girlfriend sank down onto her bed and covered her face with a pillow. "That was not humming!" he laughed. "That was absolutely amazing!" Sitting down next to her, he eased the pillow from her grasp. "You must have lessons or be in a choir though, right?" he questioned. He didn't give her the chance to respond before continuing: "I can't believe I never noticed that though..."

Peeling one eye open, Gabriella shook her head emphatically. The mere thought sent shocks of anxiety through her. "God no! No, no, no. I do not sing in front of people. Ever. Noooo."

"Really? You've never thought of performing or..."

Gabriella had rolled onto her side as he posed the question and looked up at him with an utterly serious expression on her face. "Me?!" she squeaked. "That would be absolute disaster!" Her spine tingled when she glanced upwards and felt her entire body still at Troy's curious, almost analytic, observation of her.

Was it just a look or did he really know that she had omitted something?

"Sometimes I do; just church choir though," she admitted a second later. "But only ever in groups now. I once tried a solo and nearly fainted." She nodded to confirm her admission when his lips twitched. "Seriously, I took one look at all of the people staring at me and next thing I knew I was staring at the ceiling. End of solo career."

Falling backwards onto the bed, Troy mirrored Gabriella's position so that they were now lying facing each other. "That's such a shame though," he consoled. "I mean, you sound incredible!"

She shrugged. "I don't know; maybe. I just like singing because it's fun; it's not about being good. It's kind of nice to be able to keep it to myself." She elaborated upon noting his unsure expression: "it's like, I do all of these other things and I always have people expecting things of me. I don't want singing to become something that other people judge, you know?"

Troy had to nod. "Yeah, I get that. Sometimes I wish that basketball didn't have to be this huge thing. It would be awesome if I could just play with my friends and not have to worry about the next game or impressing college scouts or..." He rolled his eyes as he recalled a conversation with his Father from the night before. "Even when I go into the yard to practise free-throws and just chill Dad will be on my case and suggesting ways to improve; even though I'm not strictly practising."

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed and the pair fell into a comfortable silence.

Troy smirked and leaned forwards to peck Gabriella on the lips. "Hi, by the way," he teased.

Giggling Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Well hello to you too." She frowned as it occurred to her that Troy's appearance in her bedroom had been entirely unexpected. "How the heck did you get in here anyway?" she asked confused.

A proud smile spread across her boyfriend's features as he moved to explain. "I was just on a run," he started, gesturing down at his attire of sweat pants and a tank top; "and when I passed your house I thought I would come and say hello – "

Gabriella grinned at his admission. "You only dropped me home like an hour and a half ago! And we're going to the movies at eight!"

"Am I not allowed to miss my girlfriend?" Troy asked teasingly. Neither missed the heightened fluttering in the pit of their stomachs as the label left his lips.

"I think I can allow that," Gabriella agreed with a nod. "Do continue," she encouraged mockingly.

"Anyway, I rang the doorbell and there was no answer. But," he cocked an eyebrow. "And this is where my impressive intelligence-brawn ratio comes into play... don't roll your eyes, Miss. Freaky Math-slash-Singing Superstar Girl," Troy chided his girlfriend before tapping her playfully on the nose with his index finger. "So yes, I heard music playing and figured that you just hadn't been able to hear the doorbell so I snuck around into your garden and climbed up the tree to your balcony..."

Gabriella's eyes widened in shock and rushed over his body to assure her that he hadn't injured himself. "You could have killed yourself!" she chastised.

Troy scoffed. "As if! It's a really easy tree to climb! Very handy!"

Snuggling in closer to his body, Gabriella sighed as he dropped an arm to curl around her waist. "You're never going to use the front door again, are you?" came her dead-pan reply.

"Nope." Gabriella snorted. "Just think about the romance!" he reminded. "It's like Romeo and Juliet but without the feuding families. I scale the tree outside your window and appear on your balcony displaying the traces of my manly pursuits as I make use of my cat-like spryness to find any way possible of seeing you..."

"You really are a wildcat, aren't you?" Gabriella mused before blushing at the suggestive waggling of his eyebrows. "Troy!" Her exasperatedly embarrassed cry was accompanied by a shove to his chest. "I didn't mean it like that!"

Smirking, the boy lying opposite her dissolved into a fit of laughter. "You are too cute," he sighed. Troy winced as he shifted and felt something hard digging into his back. Reaching behind him, he located her previously discarded book and raised an eyebrow. "You're reading this again?" he asked and smiled at how worn the pages looked.

"Yeah, I wanted to read it again before the end of semester tests," she clarified.

"Surely you know it back to front from having read it the first two times?" Troy asked somewhat redundantly.

"I know it _quite _well," Gabriella shrugged.

Troy snorted. "You know the truth, the truth is this: -" He paused-mid quotation knowing full well that his girlfriend wouldn't hesitate to finish.

"-Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men cannot be trusted around women, black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men." Gabriella stuck her tongue out at Troy's smug grin. "Shush you: it's one of the most famous quotations in the book. Even _you _knew it," she jibed.

Inching forwards ever so slightly, Troy raised himself up on his elbow so that he was peering down at the girl feigning innocence. "Well now," Troy teased with a shake of the head. "That wasn't very nice at all, was it Miss. Montez?"

"In comparison to breaking and entering, you mean?" she questioned cheekily.

Troy nodded his head solemnly. "I would say even worse; considering I didn't actually break anything," he reminded before he continued, a dangerous glint flickering in his eyes: "I think it might even be punishable."

Gabriella didn't grasp his implication initially and scoffed. Seeing him kneel up beside her, however; his fingers poised threateningly, she rolled away from him and attempted to scramble off the bed. Squealing as Troy caught onto her ankle, she threw a pleading look over her shoulder. "Troy Bolton, don't you dare tickle me."

A deceptively disarming grin settled on Troy's lips even as he gently tugged her back towards him by the leg. "Would I?"

Gabriella's eyes widened and she gulped as he pounced on her. His fingers found her stomach immediately and he smirked as she writhed around beneath his torturing hands. "Troy! No! Stop! Stop it, now!" She squeaked breathily below his looming figure and tried her very hardest to swat his hands away despite her lack of composure. As his knee brushed against her bare foot accidentally Gabriella flinched. "Keep away from my feet!" she cried before she realised the ammunition that she had given him and his fingers froze.

Troy leant back and his amused smirk taunted her. "Your feet?"

"Seriously, Troy, if you touch my feet I will –"

"You'll what?" he asked whilst maintaining a firm grip on her ankle.

His finger began to trail down from her knee, a chuckle jumping passed the barrier of his lips when even this action made her wriggle, and came to a stop just below her ankle. Gabriella couldn't stop herself from kicking out instinctively."I'll –"

"You'll?"

Narrowing her eyes at him, she pouted as his finger continued to draw a line down the topside of her foot. "If you go anywhere near the underside of my foot I swear I will break up with you, Troy Bolton."

Troy wondered whether she could possibly have uttered the words any more seriously; despite the ridiculous nature of her motivation. "You'd break up with me if I tickled the bottom of your foot?" As the teasing question was voiced, Troy lifted his girlfriend's foot from where she had clamped it firmly against the bed and pretended to inspect its sole.

"Trooy!" Gabriella whined and only pouted more when he wiggled his eyebrows threateningly at her from across the bed.

Her lip jutted out the tiniest bit more and Troy's resolve crumbled. Her eyes were peering up at him in such an innocently irresistible way and there was no part of Troy Bolton's mind that was capable of continuing to torment her when she was doing so. Dropping her foot delicately into his lap, he smiled softly as his girlfriend snatched her feet away from him and crossed them under her thighs as she sat up. Gabriella mockingly continued to sulk and tilted her head to the side when all that Troy did was carry on smiling at her warmly; his eyes seemingly deep in thought.

She was breath-taking, Troy thought; and she didn't even know it. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, she had shed her cardigan and was now simply wearing a tank top with her floral skirt from earlier in the day, but she couldn't have looked more stunning. He loved the way that her natural glow wasn't hidden underneath layers of cakey make-up. He absolutely adored the way that her smile travelled down from her sparkling eyes to the wide stretch of her lips. Troy Bolton felt every cell in his body tingle in the radiance of Gabriella Montez.

"Do I not get an apology?" Gabriella huffed jokingly; her pout still taunting him.

"That pout is dangerous," Troy replied after a second's contemplation.

Gabriella grinned cheekily. "You should learn now to apologise straight away then," she joked before reassuming her pout in exaggerated form.

Troy merely chuckled at her mischievousness and reached across to clasp one of her little hands in between his larger ones. "Gabriella Montez, please, please, please forgive me for daring to tickle you and for threatening to touch your feet. Please?" He adopted his best puppy-dog expression in a bid to further his cause.

"I shall consider it..."

"Can you consider it quickly, 'cos I promised my Mom I would tidy my bedroom before we went out tonight," Troy squeezed her hand as he sent her a wink.

Grinning, Gabriella shuffled closer to rest her head on his shoulder. "I'm actually kind of nervous about tonight," she mused out loud. "What if it's really awkward and none of our friends get on?"

Troy just shrugged. "It's not like they've never spoken before: Chad and Taylor have that bicker-flirt thing going on; and, I mean, we have been known to interact over lunchtime and stuff. Supposedly Jason and Kelsi have film studies together too and did a project once..."

"Really?" Gabriella piped up. "I never knew that!"

"Yeah, I think they did like a silent movie and she composed the backing music!"

"Oh, wow!" She giggled. "I think part of me is still expecting Taylor to call and freak out about the fact that she is willingly going to the cinema with a group of lunkhead-basketball guys!" Right on cue her phone began to ring. "Although, I know that it's just because she's nervous about going to the cinema with Chad," she added with a wink before silently asking for permission to answer.

Troy nodded and stood from her bed, leaning down to brush a kiss against her lips, and moved towards the balcony.

"See you in a bit," Gabriella called after him before picking up her phone.

Taylor's greeting floated down the line and it took a minute for Gabriella to respond: she was captivated by Troy's figure as he hoisted himself over her balcony and began to lower himself down onto the nearest branch. Just before his head disappeared under the railing he lifted his eyes and their gazes met.

Gabriella sighed and they shared one last, soft smile.

Her eyes were only drawn from the blank space against the sky where his body had previously been when her friend spoke up. "Gabriella?" Taylor asked again. "Are you there? Are you okay?"

"Hmmm?" Gabriella hummed her confusion. "Oh, sorry, I'm good." She paused. "I'm more than good."

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**Review ;-)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Tumbling Etceteras - Chapter 3**

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A slightly awkward start had given way to an evening of movies and food that was as illuminating as it was enjoyable. The boys and girls had stuck mainly with their respective friends. But there had been interaction. There had been laughter.

Gabriella had never realised that this group of eight people shared a past so loosely and yet undeniably woven together: Zeke and Martha lived on the same street; Taylor, Chad, Troy and Jason had all attended the same kindergarten; Kelsi and Chad had both been given piano lessons from an older lady in the neighbourhood when they were in elementary school. As they had sat in the food court of the local mall before the movie started, Gabriella had been somewhat amazed at this group's shared history: even if they rarely alluded to it on a daily basis. All it had taken was for Taylor to make a snide comment about Chad's childlike eating habits before the tightly wound ball of memories had begun to unravel.

"My God, Chad! I thought you would have grown out of the need to stuff your entire meal into your mouth at once since Kindergarten."

Feeling Gabriella stiffen beside him, Troy had squeezed her hand tightly in his own. They had both talked about how much easier life would be if they knew that their friends could get along; if they knew that they wouldn't be required to sacrifice their friends for their relationship.

Nobody was expecting the following retort to shoot from Chad's mouth. "Well it's a hell of a lot healthier than that glue-eating habit you used to have in Kindergarten," he countered proudly before practically downing the rest of his coke.

"Dude, I'd totally forgotten about that!" Jason laughed and Troy averted his gaze as he tried to hide his own sniggers.

"Oh shush, you," Taylor mumbled and Gabriella was surprised to see that there was no annoyance marring her features. "All of us remember the time that you glued crepe-paper to all of your clothes. I don't think I've ever seen anyone as angry as your Mom when she picked you up that day."

At this point, Troy really could not control his laughter. "Man, that was the best!"

From the other end of the table Martha spoke up with a smirk on her face. "Speaking of angry Moms..." She glanced across at Zeke, long enough for his face to blanche, before continuing. "I think I was like eight or nine, and we'd come back from shopping so everyone had to help Mom unload the car. Anyway, suddenly I hear this yelling coming from down the road. I swear, Zeke's Mom was chasing him down the street and he was covered head to toe in, I want to say blue paint. She was ranting and waving a feather duster in her hand. It was classic."

Zeke buried his face in his hand and groaned. "I thought you'd have forgotten about that," he mumbled.

"I haven't gotten to the best bit yet," Martha said a gleefully enough to make everybody subconsciously lean in closer. "She was wearing a bridesmaid's dress and Zeke was in a morning suit." Everybody shifted their gazes to Zeke as she continued. "To this day I don't know why but, man, was she mad!"

Raising his head slightly, Zeke's bottom lip jutted out stubbornly when he realised that the others were waiting for some sort of explanation. "We were having the kitchen painted!" He started exasperatedly. "And, well, Mom was finishing getting ready for Aunt Flo's wedding and I was just playing ball in the house...and, well, I managed to knock the paint can off the shelf and..."

The next half an hour continued much in the same way: they recounted funny stories from their childhood and swapped notes on pre-school teachers. As Kelsi and Chad got caught up talking about their slightly creepy piano teacher, Troy turned to look at Gabriella. "You're very quiet," he whispered and nudged her with his shoulder. "You okay?"

Gabriella smiled. It wasn't a forced smile aimed at consoling others but one that achieved its full intensity in the glow of her eyes. "You'd never know that you all had this much history from watching you all in class," she mused. "Should I be jealous that you kissed Taylor on the cheek in fourth grade?" she asked teasingly and giggled as her boyfriend leaned in to place a sloppy kiss on her own cheek. "If that's what it was like then perhaps not!"

His lips had barely left her cheek before he dove back in again to pepper loud but briefer kisses all over the side of her face. "You don't mean that," Troy chided for a second. "You love my kisses." He grinned as her neck curved when his nose brushed the underside of her chin. "Ticklish again?" Troy asked; well prepared to lean in again and exploit this newly-discovered sensitive spot until a ketchup-laden chip bounced off his nose.

"Dude," Chad paused as he regarded Gabriella with a grin, "and Dudette. We are not here to chaperone you. We want to watch 'Terminator' without having to put up with you two slobbering on each other." Troy rolled his eyes as Gabriella blushed and cast her eyes to the table. "There will be no back-row making out," Chad added as an afterthought.

"Damn!" Troy mockingly sulked. "I thought that's the entire reason we - !" He jolted as Gabriella pinched his arm gently.

"Shut up," she murmured drolly. "Speaking of the movie, we should probably head – "

Troy allowed her to tug him to his feet before re-interlacing their fingers. The rest of the gang filed ahead and he couldn't prevent himself from leaning down to whisper in her ear. "See, I told you everything would be fine."

* * *

Gabriella stared dumbly at the piece of paper in front of her. There had to be a solution: there always was. The faintest glimmer of an idea sped across her mind and Gabriella desperately tried to follow it as she scribbled on the page below her pencil. It was an effort that failed. Two lines later she realised that she had run aground – again- and in an unfamiliar act of frustration she scrunched the paper up into a ball and launched it in the direction of the wastepaper bin in the corner of her room.

Resorting to "cheating", Gabriella pulled out her text book and frantically searched for the example that best matched her current problem. She traced the working from line to line and tried to grasp why her proof wasn't working. After reading the example three more times she was still at a loss and it wasn't long before the text book too was flung out of her line of vision.

The gently knocking on her door wasn't enough to draw her concentrated gaze from the paper.

The sound of her boyfriend's voice was.

"Gabriella?" he called slightly louder than his previous rapping on the door and his girlfriend sprung into action. Leaping upwards, Gabriella winced as she banged her knee on the underside of her desk. Catching sight of her wild hair in the mirror, her eyes widened and she glanced pleadingly around the room in a bid to find something that would be able to hide the mess of her appearance. "Gabi? Are you okay?" Troy asked; his voice was this time laced with a cautionary firmness as he heard her quiet yelp.

"Yes! Fine!" she practically squealed. "Just a minute!" Gabriella commanded as she frantically tied her hair back before burying her head in her hands when she realised that she was just wearing her velour tracksuit. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted the outfit that she had laid carefully on her bed that morning.

Troy took a nervous step back from the door when he heard a faint growl from within his girlfriend's bedroom. "Are you sure you're okay, Gabi?" he questioned tentatively. "Your Mom called upstairs but you didn't answer so she said that I should just come straight up and knock..."

Slowly the door opened and the sight that met him almost broke Troy's heart. Gabriella was gazing apologetically up at him, her eyes shining dully with unshed tears. "I'm sorry," her words started to rush out in an almost incomprehensible jumble. "I didn't forget – I promise I didn't forget we were going to have dinner. I just started doing some calc revision and then I got stuck and I just couldn't stop until I found the solution and I really meant to get changed and ready but then you knocked and you're here and I'm not ready..." She took a deep breath and her lip began to quiver. "And I never even solved the problem anyway so now I'm a bad girlfriend and stupid."

By this point her head had fallen and her arms were entangled protectively over her front. Troy stared at her, awe-struck for a moment, before being urged into action at the sound of her sniffling. Finally stepping into her room, Troy engulfed his girlfriend in his arms and rubbed her back comfortingly. "Hey," he soothed. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm going to fail all of my exams and you're going to hate me because I'm not even ready for our date."

Troy's brows knitted together in confusion and he had to bite the inside of his gum to stop himself from smiling. "Gabi – " His voice was as firm as his grip on her upper arms. "Look at me. Firstly, there is no way that you are going to fail your exams: you are a genius - you have never had less than 97% on a test this year, and I very much doubt you're going to start now. Secondly," he paused to tenderly raise her chin with his thumb. "I definitely do not hate you. And what's wrong with what you're wearing now?"

Gabriella scoffed but her retort was cut off by his lips pressing against hers. When he pulled back the glassy sheen over her eyes had evaporated to leave a sparkling, slightly stunned glaze in its place. "My hair's horrible and I'm wearing my ratty tracksuit."

"You look pretty, as usual," Troy countered and as much as Gabriella wanted to roll her eyes at his reply, the sincerity of her voice made her think that perhaps he was being honest.

"There's soup all down my pant leg," she pointed out in embarrassment.

Troy looked at her earnestly until a boyish grin stretched his features. "I'm wearing the same boxers as I wore yesterday...I just turned them inside out."

It took a moment for the comment to register with Gabriella but when it did her nose wrinkled and she giggled as she tried to fight her way out of her boyfriend's grasp. "That's disgusting. You smelly, dirty boy!" she chastised, pushing him firmly in the chest until he was forced to relinquish his hold on her.

Holding his hands up in surrender, Troy shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, okay, I admit it! I lied. Everything I am wearing today is clean on. Scout's honour!" Gabriella smiled softly at his attempt to cheer her up and willingly accepted his hand as he held it out to her. "Seriously, Gabi, we were just going to eat lunch here anyway, right? Maybe stick a movie on...you don't need to spend hours getting ready for me..."

Gabriella's cheeks flushed again. "I know, but I wanted to at least look non-scruffy. And I wanted to have lunch ready but –" she gestured vaguely around her. "I didn't really manage that."

Troy shrugged. "Seriously, babe, I don't mind." Gabriella blushed again and Troy couldn't tell whether it was out of embarrassment still or for some other unknown reason. "What?" he asked with a squeeze of her hand. "Why the repeated tomato-ness?" Scowling, Gabriella tried to brush off his question with a shrug. "Well, babe?" Troy asked again and her blushing intensified.

"Babe..." Gabriella mumbled quietly and she smiled once she had wrapped her tongue around each syllable experimentally. "It's new," she expanded shyly.

"A good sort of new or a bad sort of new?"

"Good, I think. I think I need to hear it more..."

Troy laughed and pulled Gabriella back into his arms. "Well, _babe,"_ he teased. "Why is it that this is the second time in two days that I have walked into your bedroom without getting a simple hello in greeting..._babe_?"

Groaning, Gabriella tried to bury her head further into Troy's shoulder. "Because I'm an awful girlfriend." The cogs in Troy's mind were spinning frantically as he pondered a way to cut her off in the rambling self-deprecation that was to follow. "What about a belated kiss in greeting? Will that make up for a lack of 'hello'?" Gabriella asked cheekily; obverting the need for Troy to step in.

Troy raised his eyebrows and smirked. "I guess that I can allow that," he joked and leaned down to meet his girlfriend half-way as she connected their lips. The kiss didn't get the chance to develop beyond a few teasing pecks before the slightly warning calling of Gabriella's name made them lean back.

"Gabriella," her mother shouted up the stairs again. "I wouldn't want the two of you to starve." The implication of her 'concern' was clear.

"I know, Mom. We're coming!" Gabriella replied with an apologetic smile.

Troy tugged on her hand as he stepped back over the threshold and into the corridor. Catching her rueful glance at the outfit lying on her bed, Troy let go of Gabriella's hand and turned her back around. "Why don't you get changed, because I know that it's still bothering you, and I will go and get us a drink..."

"But you're the guest," Gabriella protested weakly.

"If you aren't downstairs by the time I have poured us both a glass of OJ then I will come back here and carry you downstairs." It was amazing how easily Troy could read her emotions without Gabriella even having to utter a word. All it took was for her to look up at him, an indescribable hint of gratefulness circling her pupils, and he knew exactly what she was feeling. "Don't worry about it," he shrugged and kissed the back of her head before stepping back out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Despite her boyfriend's assurances to the contrary, Gabriella still felt guilty for taking the extra time to change. She threw on her jeans and a flowing top before pulling her hair out of its bun and examining herself in the mirror. Deciding that the loose waves wouldn't be revived, she tied half back up again and decided to straighten the rest. A quick decision to forgo make-up later and Gabriella had bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Ta da!" she announced, doing a twirl, and causing Troy to turn away from the sink to look at her.

"Now aren't you a pretty picture?" he teased. "Not that you weren't before, I mean," Troy muddled to correct himself almost immediately after. He scratched his neck nervously as he continued. "Of course, you always look pretty – gorgeous even- but well, you know, before it was just casual pretty whereas..."

Gabriella was smirking as he spoke: it made her feel somewhat powerful to know that Troy – East High's Basketball King and most popular guy in their year – could be reduced to a bumbling mess in her presence. "Troy," she giggled. "I know what you meant. And thank you!" She went to wink but scowled when she noticed that he was holding a bread-knife in his hands. "What are you doing with that knife?" Gabriella asked sternly.

Troy waggled his eyebrows and looked smugly pleased with himself as he brandished two plates of sandwiches from behind his back. "Luncheon is served," he announced with an awkward bow; trying not to tip his prepared meal onto the floor with his obeisance.

Taking a slow, calculated step forwards, Gabriella pouted. "But I was supposed to be making lunch for you!"

A plate was held out as a peace offering, distracting from the rolling of her boyfriend's eyes. "Yes, but I have been in this kitchen so many times now that I know where everything is. It seemed daft not to make the sandwiches while you were getting changed."

"But-!" Gabriella interjected; not entirely sure why she was protesting since lunch wasn't suddenly going to unmake itself.

"It's peanut butter and jelly..." her boyfriend pointed out temptingly.

Sticking her tongue out, Gabriella skipped over to him and accepted the plate gleefully. "Well you do make such good PB and J sandwiches," she agreed. A blush spread over her features and she glanced up at Troy before adding a final, "babe." The word still tasted peculiar. Not stopping to look back at his reaction, she pranced from the kitchen into her backyard and Troy was left gaping, his lips curved clumsily upwards, in her wake.

With nothing but the sauntering of their shadows to mark the passing of time, Troy and Gabriella reclined in the back garden for the rest of the afternoon. As Troy's masterfully prepared feast disappeared, they revelled in their enjoyment of the evening previously and thoughts of the summer to come. Chatter lulled for a moment and Troy reclined, pulling Gabriella down so that she was lying with her head on his shoulder.

"Are you okay now?" Troy asked, his voice filled with concern.

It took Gabriella a moment to realise what he was referring to and she reddened when she did. "Oh, I guess," she mumbled and began tugging at the grass by her side. Troy wondered whether the Montez back lawn grew bare during exam period: it seemed to be a nervous habit of his girlfriend. "I know that I'm a geek and I get too into these things..." Gabriella paused again as she tried to find the right words, desperate not to come across as arrogant. "The thing is, I suppose, that I'm not used to not being able to do things. Sure, sometimes the stuff we cover is hard and I have to think – that's what I love about Math – but it sort of freaks me out when I really get stuck."

Troy smiled encouragingly and ran his fingers through her silken hair. "Yeah, but you don't have to be able to do absolutely everything, Gabi. If you did then there'd be nothing to learn."

Gabriella sighed loudly. "I know. It's not like I think I'm this perfect genius or anything. Sorry," she added sheepishly, fearing that her words had come off as too harsh. "It's just that when Ms. Boydell gave me this extra problem to solve, 'a challenge', I guess she expected me to be able to do it. And now that I can't...What if something like that comes up in the tests?" she asked quietly.

It was difficult for Troy to know what sort of response his girlfriend was expecting. He knew that she was incredibly clever and that her attitude to tests and exams was going to be so much different to his own. Yet at the same time, he was well aware that she really did have no need to worry herself over something that was relatively trivial. "Gabriella, I know that you want to do as well in everything as you can, it's what makes you who you are and it's so cute, but at the same time you've just gotta remember that these tests are only so the teachers can decide what sets to put us in next year..."

"That's the thing though," Gabriella admitted shyly. "That _does_ matter to me." She reached down to lace their fingers together. "This is the first time since my Dad passed away that we're staying in the same place for more than one year. These tests have never had any meaning before because I never got the chance to be put into a set by my teachers. I want to do well...I want these tests to mean something." As she stopped speaking, Troy knew that she wasn't finished. He simply squeezed her hand and brushed a kiss to her temple whilst she gathered her thoughts. "I know that it's stupid...but getting to come back to East High next year is just – "

This time Troy decided to interrupt. "I know, Gabi." He rolled onto his side and their faces were only separated by a few inches of space. "Even if you somehow get a few marks lower than usual, it won't make the teachers forget what you've done for the last year."

"You are right," she conceded. "Rationally I know you're right."

"It's just that you can't help but be irrational and girly every now and again, right?" Troy hinted with a smirk.

"Maybe, _baby," _Gabriella teased but shivered in distaste straight afterwards. "Gosh that sounded corny."

Troy laughed and pecked her on the nose. "You have no idea how glad I am that you'll be here this summer," he admitted bashfully. "Really, really..."

The statement made Gabriella feel almost awkward, a fact proven by her blush and downcast gaze. Troy made her feel happy and girly and, as much as she hated to admit it, he made her feel more alive than otherwise. It was as if she could truly be herself in his presence. Despite his ability to make her blush, she never worried that he would look down on her or judge her for what she was saying. Yet she was inexperienced. She had never had a real boyfriend. She had never really had long-term friends; the result of moving from place to place. So having somebody so important to her so openly share his feelings was somewhat unfamiliar. Gabriella lived in a world of science and fact and it was so hard to cage the butterflies and fluttering of her heart within it. She knew that she felt the same as he did: she was more than thrilled that they would get the opportunity to spend the summer exploring their relationship. She just didn't know how to articulate it.

She didn't need to.

"You know," Troy continued with a smirk. "You have been my girlfriend officially for an entire week now, and you've sort of unofficially been my girlfriend for a whole lot longer."

Gabriella was curious to say where Troy was going with his random statement. "Yeah..."

He disconnected his hands and began to fiddle with his class ring. "Well, it is customary for some sort of token of couple-dome to be exchanged..." He grinned victoriously when he managed to pull his class ring off his finger. "I know this isn't exactly your style or taste or anything, but I would be honoured if you would agree to wear this." Troy blushed himself as he held the ring up in front of his girlfriend's nose.

"So that I can parade around school as a basketball player's girlfriend, you mean?" Gabriella teased softly. "Do you think it'll fit?" she asked immediately after.

"We can try," Troy murmured as he slid it onto her middle finger; pouting when he hung loosely over it. "What about your thumb?"

Gabriella balled her fist up on held her thumb out but once again the ring slid with far too much ease down her digit.

"You've got such tiny hands," Troy wondered as he unravelled her fingers. Catching Gabriella off guard he clasped her index and middle finger together and tried to slide the ring over her joined fingers, chuckling when she giggled at his antics.

"That won't work, Troy," she remarked dryly. "I don't think I'll be able to function with the equivalent of four digits."

Sighing, Troy flopped back onto his back. "Well my romantic gesture has just gone straight down the pan."

"Never." Gabriella pressed a kiss to his cheek with a cute smile. "You could carry on wearing it for me. We'll both know that it's really you wearing it for me wearing it for you..."

Troy snorted. "That's complicated – "

"-just like me..."

Bringing her hand up to his lips, Troy shook his head firmly. "You aren't complicated. You're colourful and you'll never find me complaining about it."

A warm silence settled back over them. Gabriella grinned, looking forward to a time when she would be able to express her feelings to Troy in the same way. Troy simply smiled pensively as he wondered what exactly he would get to replace the ring that she couldn't wear.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you very much for the feedback so far...and a special thank you to Molly for her editing and amusing commentary, as usual :P**


	4. Chapter 4

Tumbling Etceteras - Chapter 4

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**A/N: Just a quick thank you to everybody who's been reviewing: it really gives me an extra push to get writing. Thanks especially to _Noelle82 _and _Dixie666_ whose reviews have just made me smile on a bad day :-)**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Gabriella was methodically emptying her books from her bag to her locker when she jumped suddenly; the feel of a body moulding into her own from behind drawing her unexpectedly from her daze.

Squeezing her tightly in his arms, Troy let his head fall to rest on her shoulder. "It's been days since I've seen you," he whined with an over-exaggerated pout.

"I saw you like two hours ago at lunch, Troy," Gabriella teased. "And yesterday...and the day before..."

"For like ten minutes – while you quizzed me on the War of Independence. It was hardly the highlight of our dating history," he quipped back. "Anyway, tests are all done now and there's no homework so hurry up! We get the entire afternoon and evening together with nothing to worry about!"

Gabriella smiled softly. "Are you feeling neglected?" she asked. Despite the teasingly flirtatious way that she voiced the question, the tension in her shoulders betrayed her awareness that she may well have done. In recent months, Troy and Gabriella had phoned each other, for hours at a time, every evening; he would drive her to work if his Mother didn't need the car and always walk Gabriella home if he didn't have use of it. Since Saturday, though, and throughout the duration of their end-of-year tests, their conversations had been much briefer than normal as she got caught up in the rush of revising.

"Very, very, very..." Troy spun his girlfriend around in his arms so that her back was now pressing into the lockers. "I feel a lot of compensation is necessary."

Folding her arms over her chest, Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "And what form would this compensation take, Mr. Bolton?" she asked wryly; a hand reaching out to push at his chest as he leaned dangerously forwards.

Her awareness of what he was trying to do and her adamancy to the contrary only spurred him on. "Well, let's think now...I didn't see you all day on Sunday, so that's one kiss. And then on Monday, Tuesday and this morning you were all in your revision-zone, so I wasn't able to charm my way to an early morning kiss." He paused to flash a grin at Gabriella, who was trying to hide her amusement behind a nonplussed expression. "And then, I suppose that the brevity of our phone conversations this week equals another 3 kisses?" he questioned. "So in total, that would be, hmmmm," Troy scratched his chin as he totted it all up. "A minimum of seven kisses in compensation; and that's not even counting all of the emotional damage that the lack of kisses has caused."

"Are you quite finished?" Gabriella giggled; not deigning his complaint worthy of response.

"Well, no! Now I'm going to take those kisses that I deserve!" Troy chuckled as he grasped onto Gabriella by the waist and weakly tried to coerce her into kissing him.

"Troy! School! Stop it!" she laughed as he tickled her sides. "You aren't even trying properly!" Gabriella giggled. "You're just as scared as Ms. Darbus and her anti-PDA rules as I am!"

An expression of abject horror made its way onto Troy's face. "Me! I'm not scared of Ms. Darbus," he exclaimed and leaned in dangerously towards Gabriella's lips.

"Bolton!" At the sound of the teacher's booming, theatrical voice, Troy leapt backwards; not oblivious to the cascading giggle from the girl standing in front of him. Turning around sheepishly, he buried his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "We do not accost young girls in the corridors. This is a place for education – not procreation. Understood?"

Troy nodded his head eagerly and remained frozen in position until Ms. Darbus had floated determinedly down the corridor and out of sight.

"What were you saying, Troy?" Gabriella asked. "You aren't scared of Ms. Darbus?"

Troy sent her a sarcastic smile. "Not scared." She quirked an eyebrow. "Perhaps just afraid."

* * *

The lazy heat of the afternoon sunshine tickled the back of their necks as Troy and Gabriella sauntered home; casually discussing plans for the next few weekends as they went.

"Well Saturday night, Kelsi is having a birthday party," Gabriella chimed in, "so you have to keep that free."

"I didn't realise she actually meant that we could come," her boyfriend responded in surprise. "I thought she was just being polite! I didn't even realise that Kelsi Nielsen was the crazy party type of girl!"

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella bumped Troy's shoulder with her own. "Okay, then, she's having a birthday get-together. Does that make more sense to your lunkhead-basketball boy's closed-mindedness?" she teased.

"Actually, yes! Yes it does! And in that case, I claim you for a date night on Friday. We haven't really had a proper evening, going-out date on our own for a few weeks..."

"Done!" Gabriella squeezed his hand in confirmation.

"Excellent." Troy exhaled loudly in contentment. "You know, I swear this school year has moved even more slowly than last year! And it's still over a week until vacation begins," he pouted. "Can we not just fast-forward a week?"

"Yep, sure. I'll get right on that when I gave home this evening," Gabriella remarked dryly. "The last week of term's always a doddle anyway. We never have to do anything!"

Grinning as they approached his house, Troy steered Gabriella so that they walked up the front drive and into his back yard. "Yep, and then we have a whole – " he slowly calculated the number of weeks until school would start again, "twelve weeks of vacation. That's many days..."

"Eighty-four, in fact..."

Troy paused for a second. "That was incredibly quick!"

"It's multiplication, Troy!"

"I hadn't even finished my sentence and you'd figured that out!"

Giggling, Gabriella nudged him in the side with her elbow. "You're easily wondered."

Troy came to rest in the centre of his basketball court and turned to face his girlfriend; his eyebrows raised in challenge. "Okay then, what's 57 multiplied by 23?" Troy asked cheekily.

Gabriella paused for a second and then smirked as she replied. "74."

Her answer was stated with such a dead-pan determination that Troy didn't blink. "You're too good." A second later the penny dropped. "Hey! No it's not."

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella let her body tilt sideways so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. "Why are you testing my mental math skills again? I thought you wanted to not worry about schoolwork tonight?"

Troy jostled her head with his shoulder as he reached down to re-lace their fingers. "Firstly, you just tried to take advantage of my bad math skills...which is mean. Secondly, you started it by turning a random comment by me into something smart where you had to use your brain. And thirdly, it kinda fascinates me..."

Gabriella giggled sheepishly. "It fascinates you that my brain is like a weird, robot calculator?"

"Yes. A lot. And stop using the word weird to describe yourself."

A drawn-out sigh emanated from the girl beside him. She wasn't really sure why his comment affected her; sometimes she just wanted to forget what she could do and just be who she was. Gabriella knew that Troy's intention hadn't meant to make her feel uncomfortable. She knew that he wasn't lying when he said that her intelligence fascinated him. There was just still a part of her mind that couldn't fathom how he could find something endearing in a quality that others found odd. "The answer was 1,311, by the way. Maybe I mean a good kind of weird," she justified upon feeling his gaze on her.

"You didn't mean a good kind of weird," Troy countered; his voice light and almost jovial. "I think it's amazing that you can do all of this stuff. I'm proud that you are ridiculously clever."

Gabriella felt her cheeks heat at his answer and she averted her eyes from his awkwardly as he spoke; her gaze eventually falling on a basketball lying abandoned in the corner of the yard. In that moment, she became aware of how little Troy had spoken about basketball recently. Quite often he would mention two-on-two games with the guys or end their phone conversations by saying that he needed to go and work on his this-or-that shot before dinner. Yet basketball had pretty much faded from their conversations over the last month. Gabriella blushed further when she realised that Troy was looking at her, awaiting a response of some kind, and she caught a flicker of undefined emotion in his eyes when his gaze also fell on the ball. "Thank you," she mumbled before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I know I can get weird when we talk about this stuff. I just suppose that I'm not used to people speaking about it as a good thing...and it's not like I can help it. My brain just does math and stuff easily. It's biology or whatever."

Troy tightened his grip on her hand. "You said 'weird' again," he chastised softly.

Shifting, Gabriella lifted her head from the cushion of Troy's shoulder and smiled sweetly. "We're all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it ..." Her sing-song recital of the quotation dimmed into an embarrassed halt as her brain belatedly recalled its conclusion. Acting on impulse, not wanting to give Troy even a second to reflect on her near admission she swiftly changed the subject. "You know what else is weird?" she asked in a flurry. "You haven't had a basketball glued to your hand in weeks..."

A turquoise haze of emotion circled in Troy's irises for a second and his eyebrows furrowed as he slowly regarded Gabriella, his lips parting briefly in contemplative speech before they fell shut again and his gaze turned to the basketball taunting him from its isolation. "Been busy, I suppose," Troy shrugged distractedly. "I needed a break from basketball, it was just getting – "

Words failed him but his message wasn't lost as his eyes met Gabriella's. She understood that frustration. She knew what it was like to need something else. Her eyes twinkled as she nuzzled her nose against his cheek. "It's funny that I've never once tried to play basketball with you in all the times that we've sat out here."

"You play?" Troy asked surprised.

Standing up, Gabriella skipped across to the forgotten corner of the court and retrieved the orange ball; dribbling it tentatively to the centre before taking aim and watching as it slowly sunk through the rim. She turned to Troy and her smile widened when she noticed that he had stood up and was making his way over to her.

"I'm impressed," Troy commented with a genuine smile. "First the singing and now this! Is there anything this beautiful girl can't do?"

Gabriella grinned widely. "I wouldn't tell you if there was," she replied coyly and caught the ball as Troy threw it back to her.

He whistled as it once again sailed smoothly into the net. "That's not just beginner's luck!"

Stopping the ball with her foot as it rolled back towards her, Gabriella cocked her hip. "You know, I once scored 41 points in a league championship game..."

Troy's mouth dropped open. "No way!"

He didn't notice the smirk on her face as she continued. "Mhmm, and on the same day I invented the space shuttle _and_ microwave popcorn."

Recognition dawned in his eyes and his pupils danced as he snatched the ball from the ground. "Microwave popcorn?" he repeated teasingly. "Ha ha, very funny." Shooting, he went to catch the ball as he dropped through the net. "You know, I would have believed the space shuttle thing and everything." Standing a few feet away from her, Troy bounced the ball up and down teasingly. "I didn't know that you were such a liar," he mocked.

"I don't lie," Gabriella countered before darting forwards and stealing the ball from his hands. "I just twist the truth!" Troy batted a hand out to reclaim possession but her swerving figure shielded the ball from his grasping hands.

"Hey! That's my ball! Give it back!" he shouted teasingly at his girlfriend as she dashed away from him. "You can't run with the ball! That's travelling!" Gabriella threw a cheeky look over her shoulder at his exasperated tone. "It is! That's an illegal move!"

Gabriella's steps slowed as she made the mistaking of replying. "I didn't know we were even playing a game!" As the words left her mouth, Troy took advantage of her slowed movement and caught her around the waist; spinning her in his arms and laughing at the sound of her own giggles. "Now look who's travelling with the ball!" she teased as he carried her over to the free-throw line.

Setting her down in front of him, Troy rested his chin on top of her head. "I just had to bring the ball over here so I could take my penalty!"

Gabriella gripped the ball more tightly to her chest as Troy tried to pry her fingers away from it. "Nah uh, if you want to punish me for travelling, you don't get a penalty...I would have just had to give you the ball from back there. And, theoretically, you just travelled to here so I should get a shot now..."

Laughing, Troy took a step backwards from his girlfriend and held his hands up in defeat. "Yeah, yeah. I admit it, you're right." His grinned when she turned around to smirk at him delightedly. "You want a game?" he asked casually.

"Do I get a handicap?"

"Do you need one?"

Gabriella giggled. "Uhuh, I can shoot okay when I'm stood on one spot near the basket, but I can't do much else..."

Sending her a lopsided smile, Troy stepped back towards her and surprised her with a swift peck to the lips. "I'll give you a ten-point head start..."

She blinked dazedly for a second. "Was that a distraction technique?"

"Nope: that was just because you're incredible."

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

The fading heat of the early-summer evening wrapped itself around the young couple as they ambled down the tree-lined street. "So who exactly is going to be at Kelsi's tonight?" Troy asked warily. Gabriella raised an eyebrow as she lifted her head from its resting place on his shoulder to regard him. "What?" Troy asked sheepishly in response.

"Please tell me that you aren't harbouring some sort of prejudice against 'band and drama geeks' in that lunk-head brain of yours?" Gabriella pleaded dryly, leaving little room for him to admit that she had hit the nail on the head.

"No!" her boyfriend responded aghast. "Of course not! He ignored the smirk that teased her lips at his blush. "Did the fact that you were one of the brainy crowd stop me from talking to you?"

Her lips twitched at his protest: she was almost positive that he never would have spoken a word to her had they not been assigned each other as lab-partner. "It'd have been pretty impossible for you _not_ to talk me during assignments in chemistry," she reminded. Bypassing his impending interjection, Gabriella continued in reply to his initial question. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand. I think it _will_ mainly be Kelsi's friends from drama and music. Martha will be there, Tay too, of course. Then there's Alan and Kirsty who you probably don't know; I think that Stacey, Rebecca and Matt from our homeroom will be there too." Her tone soured slightly. "Oh and – "

There was no need for Gabriella to elaborate. As they turned the corner into Kelsi's street, a pink convertible sped passed them, blaring obnoxious pop-music out of the window as it hastened to a halt outside the detached house with a strand of balloons hanging over the porch.

Stopping in his tracks, Troy dropped his arm from around Gabriella's shoulder and raised his eyebrows. "You never said that the Evans would be here!" he exclaimed with a shudder. "I can't believe that I'm willingly spending the evening with the Ice-Queen!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "This is Sharpay, Troy. The moment she heard rumblings of Kelsi having a party she invited herself. Not that she even acts as though she enjoys spending time with people." She winced and softened her tone. "But I don't really know Sharpay personally and so should not judge." Miming zipping her lips, Gabriella reached down to grab Troy's hand and pull him towards the driveway of Kelsi's home.

"I will blame you if I get frostbite!" Troy murmured into her ear. "You know, because I could end up spending hours in the same room as the Ice-Queen..." he explained at her blank look.

Simply ignoring him, Gabriella forced a bright smile onto her face as they made it to the porch to be greeted by a slightly alarmed-looking Kelsi who was standing in the gaping doorway. "Happy Birthday, Kels!" Gabriella greeted as she threw her arms around her friend in a hug. "Are you okay?" she asked, noting the smaller girl's frazzled expression.

"Just Hurricane Sharpay, that's all," Kelsi mumbled in clarification. Sending Troy a small, still slightly shy, smile Kelsi stepped back into her house and led the couple through to the large living room.

Gabriella stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend when she walked into the room, only to realise that they were probably the last people to arrive. They had spent a good five-minutes bickering over which route would get them to Kelsi's quickest and Gabriella had won, thanks to his inability to resist her pout and her conviction that it would only take ten-minutes for them to arrive via her route. She had been wrong, of course, and Troy had spent a good few minutes gloating after ten-minutes had passed and her friend's home still wasn't in sight. Ducking her head away as Troy leaned down closer to her ear, presumably to brag, Gabriella waved brightly at Taylor and Martha who were seated in the corner of the room nearest to the CD-player. She tugged Troy over to the empty armchair next to them and tried to suppress a blush when he sat down and pulled her onto his lap. Troy rested his chin on her shoulder and brushed an awkward but tingly kiss against the back of her neck, but Gabriella balked when she caught sight of Sharpay shooting daggers at her from her isolated position in the opposite corner of the room. Unused to the malice of her stare, Gabriella cast her eyes to the floor. When she raised them again, Sharpay had turned to Ryan and was engaged in conversation with him.

Squeezing his girlfriend's knee when she failed to respond to a question that Taylor had asked her, Troy frowned at the distracted, uneasy expression on her face. "Taylor asked you if you wanted to go to the mall tomorrow, baby," he repeated quietly; and made a mental note to ask her about her discomfort later.

He didn't have to remember to bring it up: not long after Gabriella leaned back into his embrace and played with his fingers absentmindedly before voicing her concern softly. "Troy?" she asked sheepishly. "Is it just me or is Sharpay giving me dirty looks?"

As subtly as he could manage, meaning not at all, Troy's eyes travelled to the other end of the room, to catch Sharpay glaring at his girlfriend. Their eyes met and Sharpay smiled falsely before turning back to her brother. Gulping, Troy pressed a kiss to Gabriella's cheek. "I'm pretty sure she wasn't looking at you in particular," he attempted to console. "I mean, it's Sharpay: she's just angry and mean."

Gabriella squinted and sighed loudly. "Maybe. It's just – "she paused as she tried to figure out what precisely was bothering her. "I just have a feeling that it is directed at me, you know. And that's totally weird because I have honestly never spoken to her. How can I offend her without speaking to her?" she questioned squeakily.

Nuzzling his nose against her neck and delighting in her purr of contentment, Troy just tightened his grip around his girlfriend's waist. "You see! You said it yourself, it just _can't _be you that she's pissy with. Or maybe she wants your dress or whatever," he said jokingly.

"Do you think I should go and apologise?" Gabriella mused, twisting to face him.

Troy shook his head slowly. "Apologise for possibly having done something unknown to upset her?" Gabriella ducked her head in embarrassment, only for Troy to tilt it upwards again with his finger. "Have I mentioned recently how cute you are?" he asked with a boyish grin.

This time it was Gabriella who shook her head in response, her brown doe-eyes wide and flirtatious as she looked up at him.

"Well you are so sweet...and nice...and just very, very cute," he flattered with a wink before leaning down to kiss her.

It was a kiss that was interrupted by a shrill greeting as Sharpay perched herself on the arm of their chair. "Troy!" Her voice lost none of its dramatic falsity as she continued. "I haven't spoken to you in _forever._ How are you?"

Troy barely hid the groan that scratched at the back of his throat at her intrusion. He glanced at Gabriella out of the corner of his eye, immediately diagnosing her desire to escape, and tightened his clutch on her waist accordingly. "I'm good, Sharpay, thanks. You know Gabriella, right? She's in our homeroom."

His girlfriend's eyes were wide as he dragged her out of her failed attempt to reintegrate herself into Taylor, Alan and Martha's conversation and instead into what was sure to be an awkward dialogue with Sharpay. "Oh, erm, hi Sharpay!" Gabriella greeted meekly. "You know, I really need a drink so I'm just going to go over there – " she announced before practically leaping off Troy's lap and heading to the drinks' table near the door.

Slowly, and over-methodically, she poured herself a glass of coke and was startled from her exaggerated concentration when she felt a presence next to her. Looking up, she smiled when she realised that it was just the quieter Evans twin. "Hi Ryan," she greeted softly. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Yep, especially now that my sister is talking to Troy and I get to chat to everyone else," he replied brightly, a hint of bitterness bubbling under his smiling tone.

At the mention of her boyfriend, Gabriella chanced a look back over at him and narrowed her eyes at the placement of the blonde's hand on Troy's bicep. The fluttering of jealousy was squashed when she noted her boyfriend's bored, slightly intimidated expression. "Do you know whether I've done anything to insult your sister?" Gabriella asked.

Ryan simply rolled his eyes. "Who hasn't?" he joked with a shrug. "I wouldn't worry about it."

Smiling softly, Gabriella decided to change the topic to something more neutral. "So have you got much planned for the summer?" she asked.

"Oh you know, going away with the family, relaxing...nothing too unusual. You?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Mom and I are going to Hawaii for a few days at the beginning of August. Otherwise I just want to try and find a job, catch up on some reading, hang with my friends and Troy..." She giggled. "Pretty much the same as I do every weekend except with a beach and over an extended period of time."

Ryan took a sip from his drink and grinned. "Sounds good to me! I heard this is the first summer that you'll be spending in one place?"

Gabriella nodded glumly. "It seems like it, anyway. I'm so glad that I get to come back to East High in the fall. The continuity will be great." She was about to elaborate when Kelsi called her over to them. "You coming?" she asked Ryan as she turned to move back over to her girlfriends.

"In a bit, maybe!" Ryan replied timidly.

Waving brightly before turning around and walking across the room, Gabriella shot a shy smile at her boyfriend as she passed him, and tried not to giggle at the pleading look in his eyes. She settled herself on the floor next to Taylor, Martha and Kelsi.

"We've decided that we're just going to have to hand in resumes around the mall in person tomorrow if we have any hope of getting a job this summer," Taylor reported firmly. "Have you got one written?" she asked the latecomer to the conversation.

Nodding, Gabriella tried not to let the feel of her boyfriend running his fingers through her hair distract her. "Yeah, I have. But I've already taken them to a few of the book stores and cafes...with no joy," she replied despondently. She snuck a look at Troy who had also chosen that moment to glance at her casually. He shot her a wink and pouted before mouthing 'save me' to her. Chuckling to herself, Gabriella leaned in closer to the group of girls. "Can you think of any way of distracting Sharpay and getting her away from Troy?" she whispered.

Taylor smirked. "Getting jealous are we?"

"They're just talking," Gabriella reminded her friend dryly. "But Troy would seem to be suffering."

"I was going to plug in sing-star later," Kelsi interjected. "I could just do that now..."

Martha snorted. "And of course Sharpay will be the first to volunteer." She winked at Gabriella before standing up and clapping her hands to attract people's attention, leaving Kelsi to scramble around with wires and discs. "Who's up for sing-star?" she asked loudly and it came as no surprise when Sharpay bolted out of her seat.

"I'll go!"

As soon as the arm of his chair was once again vacated, Troy heaved a great sigh of relief. Tugging gently on one of the strands of his girlfriend's hair, he drew her attention back to him. "My knees are cold," he pouted childishly.

"Well we can't have that, can we?" Gabriella teased before acquiescing and resuming her place on his lap.

Glancing around him, Troy lowered his voice as he retorted. "I think the frostbite has started to set in. You need to stay here for the rest of the evening to make sure that I'm okay."

Gabriella glared at him in playful chastisement. "Be nice, Troy," she whispered.

"I'm always nice," he charmed in return. He cringed as Sharpay warbled through a particularly high section of the song that she was currently singing before gesturing towards the karaoke machine with his head. "You should show her how it's done," he murmured.

Barely making a conscious decision to do so, Gabriella raised her hand to slap his chest softly. "Shhh," she reprimanded.

"But you're so much better than she is..."

Gabriella shifted in her boyfriend's lap again so that she could see him properly. "We do not talk about this..." she hissed.

"Even though you are an incredible singer and have nothing to be ashamed of..." She narrowed her eyes at him but he continued undeterred. "What?! You are!"

Time stood still for a second as the conclusion of Sharpay's song was met with a lazy round of applause. "Who's next?" the blonde asked in a bored tone.

Silence fell across the room and Gabriella's cheeks heated as she imagined her boyfriend's eyes boring into her. She ignored the gentle squeeze that Troy gave her hand and her blush only deepened when the microphone dropped to the floor with a screech as Sharpay strutted back across the room to her seat.

"Gabi? Troy? Do you want a go?" Kelsi asked, obliviously.

"What about a duet?" Taylor prompted. "Although maybe we shouldn't encourage you two to make googly eyes at each other in public," she mused wryly as an afterthought.

Troy stroked the back of Gabriella's hand as he encouraged her. "I know you are itching to get up and sing really: I saw you tapping your foot to the other song. And most people are just chatting anyway; barely anyone is watching." A small smile tickled the edges of his lips as her creased forehead smoothed slightly. "And, you know, I'll be so terrible that people will hardly notice your amazingness."

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ears as Kelsi reached one of the microphones out to her. "I know that you love _No Air_," the mousy-girl encouraged.

Sighing loudly, Gabriella threw her hands up in defeat. "Fine then! It's not like I can say no now," she pouted before standing up and pulling her boyfriend to his feet. "Just know that I won't let you forget this," she mumbled sulkily.

The opening chords of the song split the fractured chatter of the room and Gabriella's throat grew dry as she felt a wall of eyes turn its attention to her. She glanced up at Troy, catching his warm smile, before beginning to quietly sing her way through the first lines.

_If I should die before I wake_

_It's 'cause you took my breath away_

_Losing you is like living in a world with no air. _

Her hands buried deep into the pockets of her jeans and she desperately tried to calm the frantic beating of her heart as her nervousness injected it with adrenalin. The musical interlude between stanzas seemed to stretch over an almost insufferable period of time: Gabriella just wanted to hear his voice and have the pressure and scrutiny taken off her for one moment. She heard him take a breath and begin singing and instead of the laughter that he had assured her would follow, her own shocked gasp drowned out the reaction of the people around them.

_If I should die before I wake_

_  
It's 'cause you took my breath away_

_  
Losing you is like living in a world with no air_

He sang the final word of the verse perfectly and when he looked away from the television screen displaying the lyrics, his eyes met the astounded brown of hers. For the first time since the music had started playing, Gabriella forgot that she was standing in front of a crowd of her peers, putting herself on the line and exposing her talent. She forgot that nerves and self-consciousness had ever been an issue. She felt the music. She breathed it.

She breathed him.

_I'm here alone, didn't wanna leave_

_  
My heart won't move, it's incomplete_

_  
Wish there was a way that I can make you understand  
_

Troy blushed under her gaze as he sung the next lines. Nervous anticipation floated on the lyrics as they tempted her voice to join him in the chorus.

_  
Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air_

_  
Can't live, can't breathe with no air_

_  
It's how I feel whenever you ain't there_

_  
It's no air, no air_

_  
Got me out here in the water so deep_

_  
Tell me how you gonna be without me_

_  
If you ain't here, I just can't breathe_

_  
It's no air, no air  
_

Their voices washed over each other in perfect harmony and a glowing warmth travelled through their bodies as their initially tentative singing grew in confidence and burst with its full splendour. The floor repelled Gabriella's previously embarrassed glances and it felt as though nothing could tear her eyes away from Troy's enrapturing pools of emotion. They weren't touching but every inch of skin tingled as a powerful current of togetherness flowed through their veins with a never-before experienced vigour. Troy's voice faded to allow Gabriella to take over the reins of the song and lead them into the next verse and her melodic voice sent the words soaring through the air with assurance.

Neither was consciously aware of it, but as Troy's voice once again moved beneath Gabriella's, the distance between their bodies had grown so insignificant that she could feel his warm breath against her face as they sang to each other. It was no longer the nerves that accelerated the tempo of her heart, but the proximity to her boyfriend and the power of the emotions that were being given a voice by their singing.

The lyrics ran out and the song faded into silence but Gabriella and Troy didn't notice. The music had long since ceased to be about anything but instinct and feeling, passion and emotion. Troy held Gabriella's hand in his own, his thumb rubbed over the back of her palm and as their surroundings began to seep back into their consciousness he smiled shyly at her.

The action roused Gabriella from her stupor and she blushed upon registering the claps from their friends.

"Hey," Troy mouthed with a shy smile, making a move to release her hand from his grip so that he could scratch the back of his heated neck.

She wouldn't let go.

"That was - ! You were! Wow!" she murmured in awe. Troy shrugged and sent Taylor and Martha a dirty luck as they began to whistle and cat-call. "Seriously, that sounded so, so, so good!" Gabriella gushed.

Troy rolled his eyes and turned back to their seat before flopping down in it in exasperation. "Yes, my shower-head is very impressed with me," he replied dryly.

Hands on hips, Gabriella stared down at him in disbelief. "I can't believe that you've been going on about the fact that I can sing and don't choose to publicise it and yet you are doing exactly the same thing!"

Troy's eyebrows creased. "Gabi, I was just messing around. It's not like I'm the next Justin Timberlake or anything," he muttered bashfully.

Turning to her friends in confusion, Gabriella raised her eyebrows before looking over at her boyfriend again. "You do get that you were really good, right?" she asked.

Merely shrugging, Troy tried to tug her back down onto his lap.

"It's not like I ever sing apart from in the shower."

Gabriella looked to her friends for help and smiled in relief when Kelsi spoke up to support her. "Seriously, Troy. That was amazing. You _both_ were amazing." She crossed her arms in a huff before slapping them both lightly across the legs. "I can't believe you are both this good at singing and yet left me to deal with Sharpay monopolising the spring musical."

Both Troy and Gabriella's eyes widened at her implication before Troy burst out laughing. "Oh God, that was a terrible but hilarious image. Me? In a school musical?" He snorted. "Yep, that's about as likely as Gabriella doing a bungee jump!"

Kelsi glared at him. "And what is wrong with school musicals, Troy?" she asked tersely.

He gulped and desperately flashed her the famous Bolton grin. "Nothing," he squeaked, nudging his girlfriend for looking so smug. Feeling slightly uncomfortable with the way that the conversation was heading, Troy coughed nervously as he swiftly changed the topic. "So have you ladies heard any more rumours about what the senior prank is going to be?"

* * *

A couple of hours later, the party had wound to a close and Troy and Gabriella were walking as slowly as humanly possible to draw out the journey down her road. She giggled as he abruptly stopped and pulled her into his arms.

"What was that for?" she asked mid-laugh.

"It's still half an hour until your curfew. But it'll only take a minute until we're at your house."

Gabriella rolled her eyes but her grin dispelled any notion of irritation. "You know that we could just go inside for the last half hour?" she reminded, sticking her tongue out for good measure.

Troy unhooked an arm from around her waist to look at his watch before shaking his head with a boyish grin and pulling her more tightly to him. "Nah, your Mom will still be watching _Desperate Housewives_ and I wouldn't be able to do this in front of her," he explained before dipping his head to capture her lips, softly at first and then more probingly as he slipped his tongue through her parted lips and engaged their mouths in a warm, leisurely embrace.

Gabriella's eyes fluttered open as he pulled back to smile at her and she snuggled into his chest. "I definitely don't think my Mom would have wanted to see that," she giggled. "Hey Troy," she murmured quietly to get her boyfriend's attention. "You really have an incredible voice," she complimented bashfully.

Shrugging, Troy danced a hand up and down her back. "I'll take your word for it," he conceded. He frowned, remembering one of her accusations from earlier. "And you know that I honestly never meant to be hypocritical, or force you into singing or whatever, right?" She nodded slowly and as her lips parted to allow her reply Troy placed a brief peck against them. "It's just: I honestly never have sung in public, not consciously anyway. It's not like I thought it was this big secret." He paused. "Although perhaps we shouldn't tell the guys 'cos they might rip it out of me."

His girlfriend rolled her eyes at his macho bravado. "Of course." She regarded him thoughtfully for a moment and her cheeks flushed in recognition of what she was about to say. "It was fun, though," she mumbled. "Singing together was fun, though. Don't you think?"

Troy's throat became dry again and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he recalled the magic that had woven its way between them during their duet. He lifted a hand to brush a tendril of hair behind her ear before cupping her face. "It was," he agreed earnestly. "It really was."

**A/N: Thank you for reading and sorry that this filler-chapter is the only thing I can give you after such a delay! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Tumbling Etceteras - Chapter 6**

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* * *

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_A/N: Thank you again for the feedback and sorry about the delay in getting a new chapter up!_

* * *

Nothing was going to ruin this day for Gabriella: not the snide looks that Sharpay Evans was intent on sending her way; not the promise of an extra hour in Ms. Darbus' presence as they cleared out their homeroom; not even the fact that Troy had mysteriously called to say that he would have to meet her at school and still hadn't appeared. Despite the fact that the last day of school was meant to be the best of the entire year, this would be first the first time in as long as she could remember that Gabriella would be greeting the start of the summer vacation with a smile. Up until this year the final day of the school year had always signalled the recommencement of that depressing, repetitive cycle: pack up, say goodbye, move, unpack, and start again.

This year, though, Gabriella hadn't needed to bring her already plump address book into school with her. She wouldn't be moving.

There was no describing how much that thought filled her with joy.

She fidgeted excitedly in her seat and giggled at the look of bemusement that Taylor sent her.

"What is wrong with you today, girl?" her friend asked cheerily. "It's like you've overdosed on caffeine!"

Gabriella pulled a face. "Nope, no excessive amounts of coffee for me: I'm just happy!"

"Or high!" Taylor teased. "Are you not going to get bored now that school's over?" she moaned, folding her arms. "I would be so much more excited about vacation if I had a job. The next ten weeks sitting at home, babysitting my cousins and being generally poverty-ridden are going to drag so much."

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella shrugged her shoulders cutely. "I could sit in my living room for the next six weeks non-stop and I wouldn't care: it'd be the same living room for the entire vacation!" She did a little jump in her seat as she announced it.

Taylor's eyes softened as she fully registered the reason for her friend's excitement. "Gosh, I'd forgotten that this was your first summer in the same place!" She chuckled at Gabriella's small clap of delight. "For a moment I thought it was just the prospect of getting to spend an entire summer drooling over your boyfriend's abs without teacher-supervision that had gotten you all hyper."

Gabriella blushed and stuck her tongue out at her best friend. "I will not let you ruin the moment by embarrassing me!"

"Ha, but you didn't deny it!"

Gabriella narrowed her eyes, her blush deepening by the second. "I don't drool over Troy's abs." She held her hands up in defence at the sceptical look on Taylor's face. "I don't: when would I have seen Troy's abs?"

Frowning, Taylor glanced at Martha desperately. "Gabriella - you have been dating a horny, teenage boy - the captain of the basketball team, no less - for six months nearly! Do you honestly expect me to believe that there hasn't been at least a little bit of under-the-clothes action?"

An uncomfortable heat rose up the back of Gabriella's neck and suddenly the bright cheerfulness of the room morphed into something a bit more uncomfortable. "Taylor!" she hissed. "I am not having a conversation about the progression of my relationship in a classroom full of people!"

Taylor blinked amazedly at her. "You're being serious?"

Gabriella folded her arms and huffed. "So what...There are more important things in life than abs and - " She lowered her voice to whisper the final part of her sentence. "Sex." The intense red that streaked across Gabriella's cheeks was more than enough to indicate to Taylor how wrong she'd been.

Reaching across the table, Taylor took Gabriella's hand in hers. "Oh honey, I know that; I do. And I'm not in any way trying to make you feel bad. I'm proud, you know. I just...assumed, because of who Troy is..." She winced as the words left her mouth and Gabriella's eyebrows shot upwards.

"What do you mean, who Troy is?" she sulked; a menacing thread knitted her eyebrows into a frown.

Taylor pressed her hands to her mouth in thought. "This is all coming out wrong. All I meant is that basketball and football guys usually have a reputation as to how they treat girls. And I do know that Troy is a good guy, but, you two are just so tight that I kind of assumed you were just being coy." Her brows furrowed. "What about all of those _study sessions_ on the rooftop garden?"

Burying her head in her hands, Gabriella groaned in frustration. "We study," she retorted through gritted teeth.

As Gabriella risked another glance up at Taylor, the latter merely smiled warmly at Gabriella. "You two really _are _hopeless. I mean, Troy is absolutely CRAZY about you. And surely you notice the way that he looks at you sometimes," she smirked.

"Hardly," she muttered in response, fumbling timidly with the lone curl dancing in front of her line of vision. When Taylor raised a challenging eyebrow at her, Gabriella just shrugged. "He's always a perfect gentleman, Tay," she mumbled shyly.

A wide grin spread across Taylor's face as the final bell sounded. "You know what that means, right?" she asked gleefully.

Relaxing in her chair, Gabriella shook her head slowly in amusement. "Enlighten me..."

"Boy rule number nine, according to my sister: 'If he's not constantly trying to get you in the sack, it only means one thing..."

Gabriella leaned forwards and rested her chin on her folded hands. "And what is that, exactly?"

Taylor's eyebrows glittered teasingly as she answered. "He loves you."

Eyes widened in shock, Gabriella shot upright in her chair and gripped the edge of the table nervously. "Taylor!" she chastised again. "Don't be ridiculous." A smug smile taunted her from the face of her friend. "We're sixteen," Gabriella paused. "Well I'm sixteen, he's seventeen, but that's beside the point. We're just teenagers. Teenagers don't fall in love."

As her lips crinkled in amusement, Taylor reached across the table to grab Gabriella's homework diary. She laughed at the wide-eyed surprise and reticence on her face whilst she flicked through to the final pages of the diary and dropped them to fall open on Gabriella's desk. Nothing needed to be said as both sets of eyes fell to the white paper decorated with rows upon rows of hearts and proclamations of 'Gabriella Montez loves Troy Bolton' inscribed neatly between the lines.

The gentle chatter buzzing around the room suddenly exploded as a gang of boys stepped into the room and Gabriella's eyes widened impossibly further when she was able to discern her boyfriend's voice amongst the rabble. Snatching her diary back, Gabriella snapped it closed and tucked it away in the depths of her bag.

"We'll continue this conversation later," Taylor chirruped cheekily, well aware that Troy was sauntering over to them as she spoke.

As usual, Troy's vivid blue eyes sparkled slightly more brightly when they met Gabriella's and he winked at her upon catching the blush dusting her cheeks in its rosy hue. "Good morning, ladies," he greeted with a wide smile. "Miss me?" he asked, focussing his attention fully on Gabriella. She dutifully opened her mouth to reply and smirked when he spoke for her. "Of course you did." Perching himself on the front of Gabriella's desk, Troy reached down to join their hands. "What did I interrupt?"

He was oblivious to the further reddening of Gabriella's cheeks and Taylor was caught between bursting out laughing and rolling her eyes at the situation. Biting her lip, she smiled warmly at Troy. "Oh, just boy rule number nine..."

"Is that good or bad for me?" Troy chuckled, completely missing the way that Gabriella's jaw had dropped and her face had blanched at her friend's blatant teasing. "Gabi?" he prompted, turning back around to his girlfriend. His expression softened at how pale she had suddenly become and he tenderly lifted a hand to feel her forehead. "Hey," he soothed. "Are you okay? You're as white as a sheet."

The look of pure concern and devotion on her boyfriend's face made Gabriella forgot to be embarrassed or annoyed by Taylor's taunting. The way that he looked at her was magical and seemed to blot everything else out of her consciousness for a moment. As Troy trailed his hand down to cup her cheek, she smiled sweetly at him; it was the first proper smile that she had gifted him with that morning.

"I'm fine," she answered gently. "It must be the weariness of the last few weeks catching up with me."

Troy chuckled at her reply and cocked his head as he observed her. "Or maybe it's because you were too excited to sleep last night?" he guessed. "I was surprised that you weren't bouncing off the walls when I came in before!"

Peering up at him bashfully, Gabriella's nibbling of her lips was a blatant admission. "I was kinda excited," she conceded a moment later.

"I don't blame you," Troy joked. "An entire summer to spend lazing by the pool and going on picnics with your devilishly handsome boyfriend..." He hesitated to shoot a puzzled look at Taylor as she snorted at them. Shrugging when she refused to explain herself, Troy turned back to his girlfriend. "I am determined to teach you the twist and flip on the skateboard this vacation!"

This time it was Gabriella that snorted. "Goodie! And I've got first aid training so I can patch myself up afterwards!" she dead-panned. "I can't even stand up on your skateboard for more than five seconds without having an unfortunate meeting with the ground!"

Troy laughed, his lips bunching with enchantment. "You're adorable. Anyway, it's not like we've got jobs yet so it looks like you have hours and hours of time to perfect it."

Pouting, Gabriella cocked her head as she replied. "Well it's not like we'll be able to afford to actually leave the house anyway. It's going to suck having no money."

A sympathetic smile worked its way onto Troy's lips and he shrugged despondently. "I know, but, hey, as long as we're together it's cool right?" He leapt off Gabriella's desk when he heard the door being flung open and winced when he looked over his shoulder to confirm the entry of their teacher. "Make sure you wait for me after class," he pleaded with doe-eyes as he jogged backwards towards his desk. "I have something for you!" Sliding into his seat, Troy risked one final look over his shoulder at his girlfriend, his heart thumping in his chest at the irresistible grin-blush combination that had taken over her flawless face.

* * *

It was ironic really that the last day of the semester always dragged so much, even though they were allowed to leave early. As Gabriella peeled down the pictures from her locker, most of them had been taken at Junior Prom a few weeks previously, she mused that Taylor's incessant teasing and insistence that they have a 'much needed boy talk' that afternoon had probably made the end of the day seem that much further away. She ran her finger over the contours of Troy's face in their portrait and smiled giddily. She supposed that his earlier announced 'surprise' might have been another factor too.

She had to admit that she was curious: Troy was always generous, always thoughtful, but he had no reason to buy her a gift. Their six-month anniversary wasn't for a few weeks, not that she was counting down to it. Her birthday wouldn't be until the very end of July, so that couldn't be it either. Perhaps it wasn't a gift at all, but some sort of invitation. She snorted, realising that she had once again fallen victim to her tendency for overanalysing things. She'd probably just left something in his Mom's car the weekend before when he'd driven them to the movies. "Stop being such a girl," Gabriella muttered to herself before jumping when she felt a warm body moulding itself into her back.

"Can I just give my input and say that I would like it if you actually carried on being such a girl?" Troy whispered into her ear impishly. He listened to her giggle for a second before brushing a kiss against her cheek. "Now, Madam," he said with a flourish. "Your summer activities' consultant has arrived. However, he regrets to inform you that said summer activities cannot commence without payment."

Turning around, Gabriella crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "Have you swallowed a dictionary?" she asked teasingly.

"If Madam insists on being cruel than Madam will not get her gift," Troy countered just as jokingly.

A coy smile coated Gabriella's lips with its sweetness. "You said something about payment?"

"Yes, you see, Miss, being a summer activities' consultant is very tiring and requires a lot of effort and such so I think that he deserves a kiss, just to give him a boost."

"Poor him," she giggled. "Well it's his own fault that he missed out on his early-morning kiss."

Troy grinned boyishly. "That might be true but there is a very good reason why..."

His smile was contagious and Gabriella felt her stomach and heart flutter in excitement. "Has anybody ever told you that you are a big tease?"

"Once or twice," Troy admitted. "But I think you'll agree that it's worth it..."

"Promise?"

A lump formed in the bottom of Troy's throat and his palms grew sweaty as Troy realised that now was the moment to give her the present that he had spent weeks trying to find. He wondered whether she knew what was coming, whether she'd guessed that he would want to find a way to replace the ring he had tried to give her but that hadn't fit her slender fingers. He took hold of her hands and pulled her away from her locker gently. Biting his lip at the delicate confusion marking her features, he indicated for her to turn around with his finger. "Here's my promise...to you," he whispered nervously as he took the simple, silver chain out of his pocket and looped it around her neck. He couldn't resist running his fingers through her silken hair once he had snapped the clasp into place and he peered anxiously over Gabriella's shoulder as she reached up to finger the 'T' hanging off the chain.

Gabriella span back around, the swiftness of her movement almost knocking her into Troy, and it made his insides fizz to see that she was still holding the emblem in her tender grasp. "T as in Troy?" she questioned somewhat redundantly, feeling a blush tickle the undersides of her cheeks.

Troy didn't seem to notice that she felt her question to be stupid: he was too concerned with trying not to humiliate himself with his own response. "Well, erm, yeah," he admitted, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck as he willed himself to say something romantic or eloquent. He'd spent so long trying to find a piece of jewellery that would suit her, but not once had he paused to work out how he would actually make the gesture. "I figured this would look much prettier than if you'd put my class-ring on a chain. Is it okay?" he asked hesitantly.

Grinning, Gabriella threw her arms around Troy's neck and pressed a giddy kiss against his check. "It's perfect! Thank you!" she said earnestly before leaning forwards and connecting their lips. Troy had expected the kiss to be short and sweet, and he froze slightly when he felt Gabriella probing at his lower lip with her tongue. Even outside of school he was almost always the one to deepen their embraces, but he had never imagined that Gabriella would be brazen enough to reverse their roles in school. He made a mental note to surprise her more during class before smirking into the kiss and granting his girlfriend's foraging tongue access.

The kiss was slow and almost tentative as Troy let Gabriella have complete control and he chuckled when he pulled back to see a blush spread over her cheeks. "You're gorgeous," he murmured charmingly.

"So are you," Gabriella flirted back, a sudden wave of confidence washing over her at the way that her boyfriend was gazing her.

"Just know that I will be expecting hallway make-out sessions to be a regular occurrence next year now though," Troy teased as he stepped back and picked up Gabriella's bag that was resting on the floor.

Taking a moment to make sure that she had fully emptied her locker, Gabriella smirked at her boyfriend over her shoulder. "You are incorrigible, Mr. Bolton."

"You love it," he winked.

Gabriella froze in place and swallowed the cold knot of air that was levitating near the base of her throat.

If only he knew.

* * *

Troy liked playing basketball and lazing around with his friends as much as the next guy; in fact, if he was honest he probably enjoyed playing basketball a lot more than the average guy, especially now that the season was over and he could just hang out and play for fun. Something peculiar had happened to him since he had started dating Gabriella though, because as much as he enjoyed chilling with his friends, he found it hard to keep his mind off his beautiful, sweet, adorable girlfriend for more than a few minutes. He knew that he was smitten. His parents knew that he was smitten.

His friends thought that he was whipped.

The latter being the reason that he hadn't been able to phone his girlfriend as soon as he had ended his conversation with Mr. Fulton from Lava Springs and beg her to accept one of the jobs on offer. Unfortunately the moment that Troy had made the mistake of setting his cell-phone down on the kitchen counter, Chad had swooped in and confiscated the item because Troy had his 'Gabriella face' on.

Two hours later, Troy sped through the house, his phone clutched tightly in his hands, and rounded the corner to his bedroom, fully intent on taking advantage of its privacy to speak to his girlfriend. He groaned when he caught sight of his Mother plugging in the vacuum cleaner.

"Mom," he whined in a tone that one would think was far too childish for a seventeen year-old boy to pull off.

Lucille Bolton raised a questioning eyebrow at her son. "Troooy," she mimicked back.

"I was just about to call Gabriella..."

His Mother smirked. "Does your phone not work in the other rooms in this house?"

"If I go and call Gabriella from the lounge then Dad will eavesdrop."

"And we wouldn't want your Father to hear you being all soppy and telling your girlfriend how much you love her, would we?"

Troy blushed and scuffed his shoes into the carpet, earning a glare from his mother. "I am not in love with my girlfriend," he protested weakly. "Please..." Troy threw in an eye-roll to try and prove his point.

Smirking, Lucille held her hands up in defence before turning on the Hoover. "Well there's nothing stopping you from phoning her from a room other than your bedroom."

Troy sighed. "You think that you're funny but you aren't." He tugged at the top of his shirt and sniffed it before shrugging. "I'm going for a run," he lied unconvincingly; only turning back to shoot a glare over his shoulder at his Mother's reply.

"Tell Gabriella I love her too!"

As he turned out of his home's driveway and onto the quiet road running alongside it, Troy tried to block out his Mother's taunting voice. He wondered how parents had the innate ability to get under your skin and hated that his always seemed to use knowledge that they must have illegally extracted from his brain against him. His feelings for Gabriella had been confusing him for weeks now. He'd never imagined that actually being in a relationship with Gabriella could make him even more completely and utterly enthralled by her, more and more each day, but it had. The fuzzy feeling that he used to get whenever he talked to her became a burning in the pit of his stomach; it burned constantly and sent sparks along his every nerve whenever he was in her presence.

It couldn't be love though, could it? The word tasted strange on his tongue and Troy sped up, hoping to leave it on the sidewalk behind him if he could run fast enough. It wasn't that he didn't want to love Gabriella: he did. That was the part that scared him because, simply put, Troy Bolton was a seventeen year-old boy and he knew that when he finally _love_ loved Gabriella, then that would be it. He knew that being in love with Gabriella might just be a forever thing and it was frightening how much he wanted that.

Just as scary was the prospect of actually telling Gabriella that he loved her; the issue was that 'love' was a very big, very abstract word, and Gabriella was a very non-abstract person. She liked definitions and calculations and she was a very big fan of baby-steps. Blurting out that he thought he was in love with her would be a very badly-calculated estimation of a baby-step.

Troy sighed and ran a hand through his sticky hair as he automatically came to a stop outside of her house. He contemplated walking up to the front door and ringing the doorbell for a second but shrugged and deciding against it, before sneaking over to the side gate and climbing up the tree leading to her balcony. He peered through the French-window and grinned at the sight of her giggling delightedly at whatever it was that Taylor had just said. Tapping lightly on the window, he grinned at the widening of Gabriella's smile and tested the handle. "I hope you don't make a habit of leaving this unlocked," he chastised softly as he walked into the room.

Gabriella shook her head. "I always lock it before bed and before I leave the house. I just like to get some fresh air into my room every now and again," she replied equally as quietly, touched and slightly embarrassed by his concern.

"That's okay then," Troy answered. "Hey again, Taylor!" he greeted before moving to perch on the floor next to his girlfriend and giving her a swift kiss.

"I feel honoured to have witnessed the infamous appearance of Romeo Troy," Taylor teased. "I'm amazed that your Mom hasn't castrated him yet."

Troy winced and shrugged. "It's not like I do it a lot or that I do it to sneak in to stay the night."

"Yet..."

Both Gabriella and Troy blushed at the implication. "Don't even mentally put those ideas in my Mom's head, Tay. She gets worried enough already," Gabriella muttered in embarrassment.

"She does?" Troy asked, surprise laced through his words.

Gabriella just shrugged. "She keeps getting all 'my baby girl has a boyfriend' on me. No biggie, really. Anyway, is there any particular reason for this visit?" she asked cutely.

Taylor interjected with a smirk. "-other than interrupting juicy girl-talk?"

Instantly noticing the way that Gabriella seemed to glare at her friend, Troy's eyebrows creased. "You two worry me sometimes." He turned to his girlfriend. "Do I need to be worried?"

Gabriella shook her head eagerly. "No, Taylor's just being stupid."

"So is it good, juicy girl-talk?"

Giggling, Gabriella leaned in towards him as she nodded her head. "What else?"

Despite the gagging noises being made by Taylor in the background, Gabriella laughed at Troy's heavy sigh of relief and his own grin returned at the sound. "I just dropped by because I've got some good news. I got this call from the staff-manager or something at Lava Springs country club; it's about half an hour out of town. He wanted to know if I was looking for a job and, well, I am. Anyway, because I am brilliant – " He stuck his tongue out at her. "Or maybe because you are brilliant and it's just rubbed off on me; either way, I mentioned that I had a few _friends_ that might need jobs too, one of whom happened to be a gorgeous girl with too many talents to list, and, well, he said that he'd probably be able to work something out."

Gabriella grinned. "Seriously?"

Nodding, Troy took her hand in his. "Yup, and because you're amazing then you'll probably get to do something a bit more interesting than waitressing. There are a few childcare and lifeguard type positions up for grabs."

"You really are brilliant, aren't you?" Gabriella cooed.

Troy puffed out his chest. "I try my best." Out of the corner of his eye he could see Taylor smirking and he raised an eyebrow at her. "I wouldn't be like that, McKessie, there might be a job there for you too."

She had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I really am very grateful, Troy. You wouldn't believe how much of a nightmare my Aunt Bess' kids are: I think having nothing to get me out of babysitting them would have driven me insane!"

"You're very welcome, Taylor." He pouted as he looked back at Gabriella. "I suppose I should head back, anyway; I'm pretty sure Dad was firing up the barbeque when I left..."

Gabriella giggled as she leaned into him. "Why didn't you just call then?"

A pained expression crossed Troy's face as he remembered the conversation with his Mother. His eyes fell back over Gabriella's face and he swallowed thickly. Her eyes shone so entrancingly and her smile was just so radiant and it made his insides knot together deliciously. He blinked, trying to remember what he had just been asked. "Oh, erm, it's a long-story." He brushed a slow kiss to her lips before jumping up in an attempt to hide his reddening cheeks. "I will, however, call you later tonight to organise our date tomorrow. You'll be a skateboard-pro by the time I'm done with you!"

He waved as he made a move to descend her balcony and Gabriella rolled her eyes when he looked pointedly at the door. She locked it behind him and turned to lean against it with a contented sigh. Opening her eyes, she shook her head at Taylor's knowing smirk. "Don't say a word."


	7. Chapter 7

**Tumbling Etceteras **

Chapter Seven

**

* * *

  
**

Within seconds of climbing out of Mrs. Bolton's Lexus and shutting the door behind him, a massive smirk stretched across Chad's face. "Not that I didn't appreciate the ride, Hoops, but where's Gabster?"

The question was hardly surprising: Troy had known that Chad was cooking up some sort of sly remark the moment that he had first seen him that morning. Rolling his eyes, he shrugged. "She had early orientation: her shift started an hour before ours..."

"Ohhh," Chad taunted. His lips wrinkled deviously. "That's right: because she's a _life-guard_ and not a waitress..." The other two boys snorted at Chad's implication.

"It's gonna be a hard summer, dude," Zeke mocked; Chad's mischief appeared to have spread to him and Jason too. "In more ways than one!" he added, catching his double-entendre and reaching behind him to exchange high-fives with the other sniggering boys.

Turning on his heel, Troy gave them the finger over his shoulder. "You are all so very funny."

His grumbled response did nothing to abate their mischief and Chad continued with his teasing. "How long do you think it'll take before he drags Gabriella off to fool around in the locker rooms?"

Jason and Zeke stopped in their tracks and looked at each other before shrugging. "A week?" Jason suggested.

"Pffft, try a day..."

There was the faintest hint of a blush on Troy's cheeks as he glanced at his friends over his shoulder. "You guys do realise that Gabriella will be mortified if she hears you talking like that?"

"Oh come on, she must know that we know."

Now Troy was just confused. "That you know what?"

Chad spun his ever-prized basketball on his finger with a smirk. "That we know your pussy kiss-but-don't tell thing is precisely that...we've been friends for years, dude. Don't think it actually flies..."

Eyebrows knitted together in confusion, Troy snatched the ball from his friend's hands and bounced it up and down a few times.

Oblivious to his friend's embarrassment, Chad carried on. "We _know_ you two are at it, dude. But don't sweat it, we won't let on..."

Troy glanced back up at his best friend out of the corner of his eye. "The funny thing is," he started bashfully, coughing and scratching the back of his neck before he made his final admission. "We seriously aren't..."

The boys shared a semi-disbelieving look. There was no doubting the embarrassed sincerity of his tone. "Ohhh," Chad toned. His voice was partly mocking but mainly shocked. "Wow."

Again Troy rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, as if any of you can talk. You haven't even asked Taylor out on a proper date yet," he accused gruffly.

"Okay but that's entirely different: me having the hots for Taylor is almost as terrifying as Zeke wanting the Ice Queen. They're not as..." he struggled over the word, "_fluffy_ as Gabriella. Taylor could probably kill me and like it look like an accident if I go about it the wrong way."

"Whatever, dude," Troy sighed.

He made a move to step through the gate leading to the complex. "Wait up, Hoops!" Chad called, grabbing onto his arm. "So you haven't got laid, that's totally cool. I mean, you've fooled around, right?" Avoiding his friends' searching gaze, Troy really didn't have to say a word. "Second base at least?" More silence. "First base?" Troy coughed and shrugged off his friend's grip. "Oh dude, that _is_ tragic."

"We make out, alright?" Troy admitted slightly aggressively. "And sort of first base..."

"There is no kind of here, dude," Zeke snorted.

Turning around, his arms folded grumpily over his chest, Troy glared at the others. "You know, and I'll let you in on this secret since you're all so _tragically_ single," he mocked their terminology. "When exactly do Gabi and I get chance to fool around? My bedroom is on the ground floor for Pete's sake." He enumerated the list on his fingers. "Two: both our parents have an open door policy..."

"What about when Gabriella's Mom is away?"

Troy shrugged. "Have you met my genius, teacher's pet girlfriend? When her Mom tells her not to have me over, she doesn't."

"Ouch," Chad muttered under his breath.

"Oh and here's the other fact: I don't want to scare Gabriella off. She's shy and new at all this stuff." He scuffed his shoes on the chalky ground. "And, you know, I really like her so I kind of don't want to freak her out or be _that_ boyfriend."

Jason winced. "It really is gonna be a hard summer, man...."

A loud sigh seeped past Troy's lips. "Tell me about it. Now can we go or do you all want to be late for our first day at work?"

"Whatever, dude," Chad shouted as he cheekily stole the basketball back from Troy and began dribbling it through the gate.

Troy, Jason and Zeke followed suit. As the sound of splashing grew louder, Troy turned away from his banal conversation with them and had to bite back a groan as he caught sight of his girlfriend standing on top of a rocky platform and surveying the swimmers. The distance gifted him with the opportunity to take her in properly, without risking her catching him; not that he would have been able to stop himself anyway. He wondered how anybody could make what was essentially a block-colour expanse of Lycra look so good. It clung to every inch of her developing curves, cradling her modest cleavage and exposing it to his hungry glare. Troy's eyes travelled downwards and he could only gulp at the tanned stretch of leg that she managed to impossibly hide underneath jeans and dainty skirts on a day-to-day basis. Feeling a prickling heat rise up the column of his spine and trickle down his front, Troy only hoped that she wouldn't turn around and prize him with a gift of her perfectly rounded backside.

His eyes were only torn from her form by a swift slap to the back of his head. Still somewhat dazed, he couldn't even chastise Chad with a glare.

Groaning, he shook out his limbs in a bid to vanquish the tension and arousal seeping through his pores. "It's gonna be a long summer."

* * *

Six hours and countless dirty plates later, Troy Bolton practically skipped through the French doors of the dining room and onto the poolside terrace. Upon noting his girlfriend still sitting rather primly in her lifeguard's chair, he pouted: their shift had officially finished five minutes ago and he had expected to be able to leave straight away. Nonetheless, he swaggered over to her with a proud smile on his face, a single-stemmed carnation clutched smugly behind his back.

"Hey beautiful," he charmed softly from behind, causing Gabriella to jump unexpectedly.

She spun around with a bright smile on her face; one that sparkled that bit brighter when Troy presented her with the lavender flower. "Don't you know all of the right tricks?" she mused with a giggle as she lifted it to her nose and inhaled deeply. "Mhmmm," she breathed out with a sigh. "Smells just like the roast beef dinner chef had on as the special today." Gabriella knew full well that her boyfriend had swiped the item from one of the dining tables.

A soft chuckle escaped Troy's mouth and he cocked an eyebrow at her. "Just don't tell Fulton. I don't know how many strikes theft on your first day are worth..."

Gabriella's tawny eyes darkened stormily. "I can't believe he gave me a strike," she pouted. "I don't think that's ever happened to me before." Her baby-voice might have been intended to sound joking but Troy could tell that it really bothered her.

"Awww, babe. It's nothing. And one strike will look angelic compared to what the guys and I will have against our names by the end of summer. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time: he definitely wanted to make an example of someone on the first day."

Smiling at his comforting words, Gabriella sighed in acceptance. "I suppose. It still sucks though." She giggled softly. "I feel like such a rebel."

Troy gulped, for what felt like the millionth time that day. There was something about the mischievous twinkle in her eye that suddenly made it all the more difficult for him to ignore the fact that he could detect every curve of her body under her swimsuit. "Steady on there, Montez," he joked huskily. His eyes dropped all too instinctively from her face to the swell of her breasts and he had to purposefully direct his gaze across at the other side of the pool in order to avoid meeting her - probably knowing- eye.

His feeble attempts came all too late: Gabriella had already caught his line of sight. In fact, she wasn't sure she'd ever noticed him regard her so intensely in all the time that they'd been dating. It made Taylor's comments from the other week hit her even harder. Deep down Gabriella knew that she was attractive, and she would have had to be stupid not to know that her boyfriend was attracted to her. He told her almost every day how gorgeous he thought she was and Troy's hands had been known to wander on the odd occasion. Yet she was still insecure and growing into her changing body. It made wandering around in a swimsuit in front of her classmates somewhat daunting. It was a big change from wearing comfortable jeans and knee-length skirts. Her insecurity was exacerbated by the fact that there were more than a few holidaying teenage boys loitering by the pool. She wasn't used to being sized up by strangers.

Knowing that Troy was having trouble keeping his gaze at a gentlemanly level both made her feel more conscious and made a relatively buried part of her psyche feel proud. She couldn't deny subconsciously standing a little bit more poised or adding that extra little bit of strut to her walk when she knew he was nearby.

Of course, anything made watching Sharpay scowl at the lack of attention Troy was paying to her worthwhile.

After a couple of seconds of comfortable but charged silence, Gabriella stepped forward and leaned her cheek into his shoulder. Both of their bodies shivered at the unintentionally brazen contact between his arm and the side of her chest. "It's not fair that we've spent six hours here today and have barely seen each other," Gabriella sulked gently.

Troy looked down at her and returned her pout before lifting an arm to wrap around her shoulder. "I know, right? But we'll definitely get some overlapping lunch breaks; and I can always bribe one of the guys to swap with me if not."

"Excellent." With a grin, Gabriella placed a gentle kiss against his T-shirt clad bicep. "What shift are you doing tomorrow?"

"Afternoon and evening – it'll be a long one. You?"

"I'm doing a twelve-six, which is rubbish 'cos it means we'll probably barely meet up tomorrow. I should tell Fulton to fix our shifts better," she wondered somewhat defiantly.

Troy snorted and nudged her shoulder with his. "We are feeling rebellious, aren't we? What happened to the girl that almost cried at the weekend because she banged her elbow?" he taunted softly.

Mouth agape, Gabriella took a step away from her boyfriend and glared at him with her hands on her hips. "Banged my elbow? You literally forced me to try a death-defying move on your board of terror and I fell over and scraped my elbow! It bled and everything!" Troy's face was still blank of emotion. Gabriella lifted her elbow up, squinting at the slight scab before pointing at it energetically. "Look! I'm scarred for life!" she protested with a giggle.

Leaning down so that his face was mere inches away from the scratch, Troy nodded solemnly. "Oh yes, I see: terrible, absolutely terrible. They might have to amputate."

Gabriella was in the perfect position to swoop down with one hand and swat him across the back of his head.

Troy glanced up cockily for a moment before leaning in and placing a soft kiss against the reddened skin of her elbow. "Better?" he asked mockingly.

"I don't know," Gabriella sighed over dramatically and had to wrinkle her nose when the comment simply prompted Troy to place numerous wet kisses against it. "Yes, it's better! It's better!" she shrieked at the ticklish sensation before gently pushing his head away.

Straightening up, Troy beamed over at her. "I keep telling you that my kisses are magical! Now you have proof!" He ignored her rolled eyes. "Anyway, as fun as this is, why are you still working? Shift ended like ten minutes ago..."

Gabriella groaned. "Sharpay." The name traipsed disdainfully from her tongue. "She had a special request for Javier: hopefully they'll be back any second now." Her brows furrowed in contemplation. "If I say something will you promise not to think I'm some sort of psycho-paranoid-psycho?" Troy's lips bunched at her turn of phrase but he nodded none the less. "The thing is, I'm sure she overheard me telling Taylor that we were planning to go to the movies straight after work and then suddenly she comes along and snatches my replacement away the second that the clock turns six...I swear she did it on purpose..."

"Who knows, babe: it's Sharpay. I wouldn't let her bother you though. So what if we leave here half an hour later than intended? We have all evening."

Smiling, Gabriella nodded enthusiastically. "I can't wait." Her grin curved further upwards. "Yay!" she squeaked, grasping Troy's hand again. "Javier's back! We can go, we can go, we can go!"

Laughing out loud, Troy squeezed her tiny palm in his. "Somebody really is excited about our date!"

Gabriella peered up at him cheekily. "Only because you promised me ice-cream to make up for my mortal wound..."

* * *

Naturally Troy was never one to deny his girlfriend anything. After purchasing her two scoops of ice-cream with toffee-sauce and sprinkles, the couple had settled down to watch _Paranormal Activity_, Troy's choice, of course. At the time choosing a scary film had seemed like a good idea: he was hardly averse to his girlfriend's need to snuggle into him and clutch his hand; the look of trepidation on her face during the movie was always so adorable.

His plan had been flawed; he really shouldn't have been so blind to the possibility. The problem was that the cute little whimpering noises she made whenever something scary happened on screen sounded less endearing that evening and more arousing. Since he had first seen Gabriella that morning, Troy seemed unable to look past the screen of lust that now seemed to tinge everything she said and did. His skin itched with the knowledge of just how much he wanted her.

Troy gripped her hand firmly as the sauntered down her street and up the driveway. He grinned proudly as she reached forward to test the door-handle. "I bet your Mom'll be proud that I've managed to get you home half an hour before curfew.

Gabriella giggled as she fished around in her handbag for her keys. "Or she'll know that you purposefully make sure there's time for you to come in and pilfer a few brownies!" She avoided his aghast glare and pushed the front door open, frowning when the lights were off and there seemed to be no sign of life. "Well this is very unusual," she mused. "Mom did say she was going for dinner after work but it's like eleven."

Stepping through the door behind her, Troy smiled wryly. "It's a bit tragic when your parents are out later than you are, isn't it?"

A chuckle bounced passed Gabriella's lips as she hung her coat up. "You'd have thought she'd be here to make sure you brought me back on time. You know what she's like," she added with an eye-roll. Moving through to the living room, Gabriella shrugged off her cardigan and slumped down onto the sofa, holding her hand out to Troy to take. "Want to keep me company until she gets back?" she asked with a pleading pout.

Troy smiled tightly; the slither of want uncurled in the pit of his stomach again. "Do you think your Mom'll mind?" he asked, wondering how obvious his need for an escape was.

Spine tingling at the desperate huskiness of his voice, and the glowing depth of his sapphire eyes, Gabriella felt suddenly brazen. "If she walks in and finds you ravishing me on the sofa, you mean?" she prodded cheekily.

Troy blushed a flattering shade of red and a strangled half-groan, half-sigh clawed its way down his throat.

Gabriella's giggle broke through the intensity of the moment. "You're actually blushing!" she teased. At Troy's pout, she leaned forwards and tugged on his hand, bringing him to sit next to her.

"And you're actually a tease," he mumbled jokingly. As much as he was a teenage boy whose hormones tended to get the better of him, a lot, he loved the fact that his and Gabriella's relationship was based on their friendship rather than lust and the usual teen drama. Her shyness and silliness were what he adored most about her.

Stroking his hair as he buried his face into her shoulder, Gabriella's shoulders shook with silent laughter. "Poor baby..."

"Sometimes I wonder whether you torture me on purpose or whether you're actually just..." He paused as he tried to find a way of articulating his statement without offending her.

Gabriella wiggled her shoulder and prompted her boyfriend to look up at her. "I'm hardly torturing you," she remarked dryly. Catching the look in his eyes she immediately realised the falsity of her statement.

Troy chuckled slightly nervously. His eyes fell to a spot on the carpet as he denied that part of brain telling him to bite his tongue and instead replied. The honesty painted his cheeks a dark shade of pink. "Maybe it just becomes torture when I've had to watch you wandering around in a swimsuit all day."

Gabriella's hands stilled their tender caressing of his shaggy hair at his admission. "Oh," she muttered shyly, her voice coming out in a much higher pitch than she had anticipated. "It's not exactly the sexiest swimming costume in the world," she added, a hint of self-consciousness seeping into her voice.

Groaning, Troy buried his head back into her shoulder with a chuckle. "And now the image in my head is even hotter than it was." He nuzzled his nose again her skin to try and mellow the tension in the room and ensure that his girlfriend wasn't feeling too uncomfortable. Troy looked up a moment or two later when Gabriella still hadn't said anything. "Hey," he cooed softly, his hand stroking the side of your face. "Are you okay?" he asked, noting the slightly faraway expression on her face.

Gabriella nodded slowly. "Yeah." She smiled softly as she tried to articulate what she was feeling. "This feels different...new..." she mumbled, embarrassment infusing her cheeks with colour and she leaned into the warmth of his hand.

"Good new?" Troy asked, gulping as he registered the proximity of their faces.

Their eyes met and Gabriella nodded shyly. "I mean, well, yeah. Not that..."

Troy cut her off with a smile. "I know..."

"But..."

"You're gorgeous," Troy admitted nervously; the words carried a different weight than they ever had before. He couldn't suppress the smile that tickled his lips as she blushed even more and there really wasn't anything else for him to do but lean forwards and let their lips meet, softly at first and then with a tender pressure that was strangely new. As her mouth parted to let his probing tongue sneak through her lips, his hand clasped the back of her head more firmly and their heads aligned even more to allow their kisses to plunge to an unexplored depth. He was sure that she whimpered as his other hand slowly, gently rubbed circles on her side. His fingers burned at her skin when they accidentally brushed against the strip of skin that became exposed as her vest rode up slightly. Encouraged by her grip on his shoulders, Troy's hand slowly moved upwards, his thumb brushing tentatively against the side of her breast. He practically felt the goose-bumps that puckered over her skin in response.

Pulling back a fraction, Troy's gaze drifted upwards to seek permission from his girlfriend's eyes. She nodded almost imperceptibly and he leaned down to timidly reconnect their lips, his hand hesitantly moving over her breast as he squeezed the mound of flesh in his hand. Barely a second later, the sound of keys jangling and the door opening hastened them apart guiltily. Gabriella giggled softly at the look of terror on her boyfriend's face and she interlaced their fingers, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You aren't funny, Montez," he grumbled with a mischievous scowl.

Gabriella leaned across to swiftly kiss him on the cheek sympathetically. "Come on, you. Let's go and see if there are some brownies after all. I know that's the only reason you're still here really."

He chuckled, standing up and pulling her to her feet. Gabriella smiled at him warmly, a blush still circling her cheeks; the sight alone was enough to make his heart beat that little bit faster.

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**A/N: Sorry about the delay in getting this up. Hope you're still reading and enjoying! As usual, thank you so much for the feedback; you're all wonderful :-)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Tumbling Etceteras - Chapter Eight**

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**A/N: So sorry again about the delay in updating: life is crazy busy at the moment! Thank you for all of the feedback so far!  
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Eyes scanning the blur of people bustling around the room, Gabriella walked through the kitchen of Lava Springs before dumping a heaped armful of towels into the laundry basket in the utility room. Her eyebrows crinkled in confusion when Troy failed to materialise; supposedly he had managed to bribe Chad into switching lunch-times with him so that he could eat with her when she finished her shift. As she reached up to get her time-card, she heard scuffling behind her and had to bite her lip to keep herself from smiling too widely when the scent of that ever familiar aftershave wafted under her nose.

"Miss me?" Troy asked, reaching behind her head for his own time-card. Gabriella's eyes merely glittered as she waited for her boyfriend to fill in the answer himself. "Of course you did?" he completed his well-rehearsed flirtation, a suave hum in his voice, and his girlfriend couldn't hold back the coquettish giggle that bubbled in her throat in response. The hairs on the back of Gabriella's neck stood up as her boyfriend leaned in close to swipe his card, a rosy blush dotting her cheeks, both at the sensation of having him so close and at the memories of a few evenings previously. Before she could fully tip her head back to look at him, Troy had scooted away, a mischievous smile on his face. "Hey, have you ever been on a golf course?" he asked a moment later, and Gabriella could tell by the look on his face that he had something planned. Her skin tingled in anticipation.

Gabriella raised her eyebrow, trying to remain coy. "We're employees, Troy, not members. And I don't play golf."

"Who said anything about golf?"

Gabriella opened her mouth to protest but her boyfriend had already disappeared around the corner. Laughing out loud at his mysterious antics, Gabriella scurried after him. She continued to giggle as he stuck his tongue out at her when he glanced over his shoulder. It only took a few seconds for Gabriella to catch up with her boyfriend; tugging on his hand she managed to coerce him into coming to a stop.

"What on Earth are you up to, Troy Bolton?" Gabriella asked with a sly grin as she leaned into his arm.

Troy just shrugged before leaning down to place a soft kiss against her lips. "Why don't you go and get changed, and get your stuff, and then meet me back here in 5?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Troy raised his eyebrow in amusement. "Do you want one?"

Shrugging, a lopsided smile adorning her face, Gabriella laughed softly. "'Kay, you win. I'll be quick!"

"Good, 'cos I only have an hour!"

Gabriella practically skipped into the girls' locker room, and threw her work clothes into her locker before slipping the pink sun-dress that she had worn to work that morning over her head. She fluffed her hair in the mirror, not that there was anything she could really do to her chlorine-hardened hair at that moment, before giving up and rushing back out into the corridor.

The blue-eyed boy awaiting her arrival pushed off from the wall where he was waiting, letting out a low whistle and chuckling when all that Gabriella did was blush. "Well now I feel underdressed," he joked, looking down at his own T-shirt and shorts.

"You should have kept your work clothes on," Gabriella suggested with a giggle, knowing how much he had complained about the starched-shirt and slacks since they had started work the other day.

Troy picked up on her teasing and merely wrinkled his nose in reply. "Funny." He held out his left hand to her, waiting to see how long it would take her to notice the picnic basket and blanket in his right. "Come on, time is of the essence, Missy."

"May I ask what the occasion is?" Gabriella's soft voice was inquisitive as she took in how much effort her boyfriend had gone to.

Troy shrugged bashfully. "I just haven't been able to spend much time with you over the last few days... you're going home for the rest of the afternoon...it's beautiful and sunny..."

Gabriella tilted her head to the side as his slightly husky voice enumerated the reasons. "And I suppose that you can never have too many boyfriend points..."

"Nope, never," he agreed with a laugh.

As he swiped his card against the door to the golf pavilion, Gabriella frowned, her eyes swirling with curiosity. "Are we really going to the golf course?"

Troy's lips twisted in a smirk. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

"But..." She abandoned her sentence when Troy let go of her hand just before they rounded the corner. "Just stay here for a sec, okay?"

Gabriella didn't get a chance to answer. Troy simply laid the blanket and basket by her feet before jogging around the corner and over to the receptionist. Gabriella didn't catch any of what was said; she merely heard the giggles of the middle-aged desk clerk and before she knew it, Troy had returned, brandishing a key that gleamed almost as much as his smile.

Collecting the picnic items again, Troy grasped his girlfriend's hand and tugged on her arm, leading her out of the pavilion and onto the green. "The fourth green should be a good spot," he suggested casually, avoiding her questioning gaze with a cheeky smile.

"Did you just flirt with that receptionist to get us the key?"

Once again dropping his girlfriend's hand, Troy turned to face her with a falsely-innocent expression on his face. "I would never do such a thing!"

Gabriella burst out laughing at the look on his face. "Oh, Troy," she giggled. "What am I going to do with you?"

His head tilted to the side as he smiled slyly at her. "Whatever you want, babe." A wink was all that was needed to make his intention perfectly clear.

Once again, Gabriella's cheeks burned and she shook her head at his antics. "Oh so this is how it is now?" she questioned in amusement. She bit her lip as she took a step closer to him, hoping her voice sounded more daring than she really felt. "I let you touch my boob once and suddenly the romantic dates go out the window and you drag me off to the fourth fairway to make out?" She dramatically reached the back of her hand to her forehead. "I feel so used," she sighed wearily.

When she looked up again, she was amused to find that Troy was now blushing too. She giggled outright at the slight look of trepidation on his face. "I swear this was me being romantic!" he protested when she carried on laughing at him. "I just thought the fourth hole was pretty because you can look out over the rest of the complex."

Gabriella shrugged impishly, stroking her chin with her thumb and forefinger. "A likely story, Mr. Bolton. I know your game."

Troy's jaw moved up and down a few times before he gave up and scowled over at his girlfriend. "I preferred it when you were all shy and couldn't even mention us kissing without having a hernia."

Laughing, Gabriella shook her head slowly. "No you didn't." She stepped closer to him again. "Because when I refused to talk about us kissing..." She paused and looked up at him, her eyes doe-like and wide, "we most definitely didn't do this..." She punctuated her sentence with a tender but firm kiss, reaching up to run her hands through his hair as it deepened slightly.

Troy pulled back dazedly, keeping a safe grip on the small of her back. "That was nice," he murmured somewhat redundantly, ignoring her giggle. "Next time I should just accost you in the corridor; I mean I thought the golf-course picnic would be a nice touch but it doesn't seem that it's necessary anymore..." He pressed a gentle kiss to Gabriella's forehead, letting her know that he was only joking, before stepping back and laying out the picnic blanket. Plopping down, he patted the space next to him. Troy fished inside the basket for a few Tupperware bowls and brandished them proudly.

Gabriella smiled widely. Impressed, she pressed a kiss to her boyfriend's cheek. "This is a lot of preparation for an impromptu lunch date," she mused.

"Well," Troy responded with a small smirk. "I may have bargained with Chad last night, so I had this morning before my shift to get everything ready."

"And to flirt with the desk staff..."

"Well, of course," Troy added with a shy smile. "Doris couldn't possibly let protocol get in the way of young love, or so she said, anyway," he continued with a wink.

Gabriella bit on her lip as she waited to see whether what Troy had really just said was going to register with him. She hoped that her blush didn't give it away. "What I really want to know," she started up a moment later, before coughing to disguise the crack in her voice, "is how you managed to get Chad to give you his lunch-break, when you have only been working for an hour and he has been there since breakfast..."

"He had been saying that he actually prefers to keep going when he's done the breakfast shift, because he just gets sleepy when he takes a long-break....and then I may have offered to do his breakfast shifts next week..."

"Ouch..."

"It won't be that bad..."

Gabriella snorted, causing Troy to glare at her. "It's not that funny!"

"It kinda is; you hate mornings!"

Reclining on the blanket, Troy covered his eyes with his hand. "Yeah, well not all of us are like you, Little Miss Morning Glory!"

Gabriella lay down next to him and rested her chin on his chest. "Doesn't that mean you'll be doing 5 breakfast shifts next week?"

"Yup," Troy agreed despondently, popping his lips to emphasise the final letter.

"Oh, but I'm on late shifts at the end of next week."

Troy didn't have to open his eyes to see her pout. "Yeah, it kinda sucks. But I figure that it won't really matter because we'll both have the weekend off so we can make up for it."

"I suppose that you do make a very good point, Mr. Bolton..."

Troy shivered over-exaggeratedly, easing Gabriella off his chest as he sat up. "That makes me feel like my Dad," he explained. Opening a bottle of still water, he took a long gulp before offering it to her. "You want some?"

Gabriella nodded, taking a sip as she observed her boyfriend pensively. "So," she began warily. "How's kitchen duty?" She cast her mind back to the first day that the entire group had started work, and to the sparks that had flown. They hadn't really expected the general-manager to be such a stickler for rules.

Catching her implication, Troy just shrugged. "Oh, you know, the team that washes dishes together stays together." He rolled his eyes when she sent him a disbelieving look. "You know the guys: they got over it pretty quickly. And the kitchen staff is really cool so when Fulton's not around, it's actually a laugh. What about you?"

"Well today's been pretty awesome: sunshine all morning." Gabriella shifted her gaze from Troy's face; rather conspicuously busying herself opening one of the containers of food that was laid out in front of her. "And, of course, Sharpay doesn't see fit to arise before midday so it was really rather peaceful and easy work." Troy laughed at her innocent expression, and her speedy diversion. "So, my Mom says that summer jobs look good on college applications," Gabriella swiftly continued.

"All part of the frightening concept called our future."

Gabriella winced: what she had hoped would be a diversion from her mini-bitching session seemed to have struck a chord with her boyfriend. Reaching across, she placed a comforting hand on his arm. "Are you worried?" she asked softly.

"College costs a fortune." His uncharacteristic sigh chilled her ear drums. "My parents are saving pennies compared to the people at this place."

"You're a synch for a scholarship." Gabriella encouraged; and it was true. She didn't know a lot about basketball; at least, she hadn't before she had started being friends with Troy. She would have had to be deaf not to have heard the buzz about him around school though. Whilst his friends took it upon themselves to make sure that his ego did not get unnecessarily inflated, every now and again they would say things that made it hard for even a novice to ignore the fact that Troy had something special.

"I'm only as good as what happens next season." He shrugged despondently as he considered his words. "And, I mean; who says that I have to get into college on my ball skills alone? I mean, I've actually done pretty well at school this year..."

Gabriella beamed, taking pride in the row of As that he had received in his end of year exams. "You did more than pretty well! You did awesome!"

An uncharacteristic blush stained Troy's cheek at her praise. "I didn't even have to work _**Tu,**that _hard. I mean, sure, I had you to help which played a pretty major part..." As his girlfriend scoffed, Troy purposefully avoided her gaze. "For my whole life, it's been Albuquerque this and New Mexico that; but now I'm thinking that maybe there really is an opportunity for me to look elsewhere." He only paused momentarily before a frustrated sigh seeped past his lips. "But then we get around to the money thing again so..." He looked shyly over at Gabriella, slightly embarrassed of his rant. "I guess what I mean to say is that I always liked the idea of being in charge of my future; until it started happening."

Nodding along encouragingly, Gabriella let him finish before reaching over to squeeze his hand. "So let's just think about right now," she suggested with a warm smile, one that dropped slightly as she pondered her next words. Playing with Troy's fingers absent-mindedly, she timidly added, "because I've never been in one place for an entire summer. And that means a lot to me." Mere seconds passed as Gabriella took a breath, forming a natural break in her speech. In those mere seconds, her eyes met her boyfriend's. Recognition glimmered in his blue orbs, recognition that was dimmed by nervousness. Gabriella's mouth opened to complete the sentence, feeling more than a little boosted by the knowledge that Troy felt the same. "Especially being here with..."

"...such an amazing PB&J sandwich maker..." Troy didn't know why he had interrupted. All that he knew was that a split second later his heart had sunk, partly in recognition of the fact that he had blown a perfect chance to maybe test the waters with the 'l' word – here his heart sank again: was that really what it was? On the other hand, though, his heart was dragged even further down in his chest by the sheen of embarrassment, and -was that disappointment that he detected?- that was glossed over his girlfriend's usually glowing eyes. His cheeks burned at his lack of tact.

Gabriella ducked her head, feeling slightly rejected. At first, the proclamation had merely been instinctive, something that felt right in the moment. Behind it, Gabriella was well aware, something bigger, something more profound, had been lurking. It had felt like the moment to test the waters. His interruption had suggested that perhaps it hadn't been. Nevertheless, she had been surprised when Troy refused to let go of her hand when she tried to make pretence of opening her sandwich bag. Realising that he was probably waiting for some sort of reaction, she bashfully lifted her eyes. "I want to remember this summer, Troy," Gabriella stated simply, hoping that her meaning was clear. When she met his eyes again properly, she was surprised to find more understanding in them than his prior interruption had suggested.

Smiling softly, embarrassment circling his own features, Troy leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. "Me too."

As he pressed their lips together, there was no mistaking one simple fact: he wasn't just referring to the summer.


End file.
